I watched the execution of Curtis Osborne last Wednesday.

He had killed two people in Spalding County in 1990.

After 17 years of appeals, we gathered the families of the man and woman he killed and went to Jackson, Georgia. Although two family members could have witnessed the execution, all chose to go into a separate room to wait. Cassie Murrell, one of our Victim Advocates from the Griffin office, sat with them. Counsellors from the Department of Corrections did, too.

I decided to witness the proceedings. I thought that I should, since it is my job to decide when we will seek the death penalty.

Of course, security was tight. We had earlier provided the names of who would be attending. When we arrived at the prison at 5:15 PM, we had to show identification. We could bring into the building only our car keys. Once we passed the metal detectors, the victims’ families and Cassie went one way and they led me into a conference room. I waited there with officials from the Attorney General’s office, the Department of Corrections, the Butts County Sheriff’s office, the GBI, the coroner, and Bill McBroom, the prosecutor who, along with Fletcher Sams, had tried Osborne.

The execution was scheduled for 7:00. Osborne’s family had already come and gone. Occasionally, someone would give us a report. “The defense has filed its second appeal of the afternoon with the U.S. Supreme Court and we’re preparing our response now,” someone from the Attorney General’s Office said. Later, we were told, “We think we’ll hear something from the Court within the next 30 minutes.”

Thurbert Baker, the Attorney General, came with the warden to get me. We met with Cassie and the victims’ families. There were a few tears as the moment approached, but, for the most part, they seemed comfortable.

Then a guard took us down the hall and into the parking lot. We boarded a van and another guard drove us to the separate building where death row inmates are housed. There were tall chain-link fences with razor wire. Our van pulled into an enclosed area. A guard with a mirror attached to a long pole searched under the van and even under the hood.

For about 20 minutes we waited in the van. Somebody said that Osborne was being secured into the execution chamber during that time.

Then we filed into the room where we had assigned seats. Mine was on a bench on the front row. Through the glass window in front of me about eight feet away was Osborne. He was lying on his back with his arms outstretched to each side and strapped down. An IV was already attached to each arm around the elbow. The tubes for the IV disappeared into small holes in the wall behind Osborne.

Two guards, the warden and a nurse were in the chamber with him. We could clearly hear everything that was said. The warden asked Osborne if he wanted to say anything. He responded by shaking his head from right to left. The warden asked if he wanted prayer. Osborne nodded. A man entered the chamber and said a prayer.

The warden read the order for execution and he and the man who said the prayer left the chamber. Osborne closed his eyes. For what seemed like 20 minutes or more we sat in complete silence. The only movement I saw from Osborne was when he yawned after about 10 minutes.

At 9:05 two doctors entered the room. Each checked Osborne’s pulse. Each listened to his chest with a stethoscope. They looked at the warden and nodded. The warden announced that the order for execution had been carried out. Somebody closed the curtains. After 18 years and numerous appeals and other post-judgment proceedings, it was over.