There was a slight delay, but preparations are under way for Mark Brown's execution at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.
The AP reported that Brown's execution was delayed while authorities awaited word on two final appeals. Crews on the scene, however, just reported that those appeals were denied and the execution is expected to occur at 10:20 a.m.
Brown asked the U.S. Supreme Court to delay Thursday's execution while he challenges the state's lethal injection system. He also asked the court to grant a new trial.
State and lower federal courts have already rejected both requests. Prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn said Brown appeared to have usable veins in medical exams.
Brown was sentenced to death for the aggravated murder of Youngstown Midway Market owner Isam Salman in 1994.
Brown spent much of the day Wednesday writing and watching TV, said jail officials. He ate lunch at 11:45 a.m. and spent most of the afternoon on the phone with friends and his attorney.
According to jail officials, Brown spent Wednesday evening meeting with his brother, Kenneth Smith; spiritual adviser, Chester Philips; and attorney, Rachel Troutman. He was scheduled to meet with his sister, Michelle Brown, but that meeting did not happen.
Troutman informed Brown at 7 p.m. that his clemency had been denied by Gov. Ted Strickland, after which he became emotional, though the officials were not specific. His face-to-face meetings ended at 7:30 p.m.
At 8:04 p.m. Brown began eating his special meal, which consisted of steak, onion rings with ketchup, a double bacon cheeseburger with french fries, cake, ice cream, potato chips and a two-liter bottle of orange soda. It was reported that he finished most of his meal, but did not touch the steak.
Officials said Brown spent most of the night on the telephone and made multiple calls to his friends, and his sister, Michelle Brown. Brown slept from 4:49 a.m. until prison personnel woke him at 6:20 a.m.
Officials reported that after Brown woke up, he showered and met with the facility's mental health doctors, Philips and Troutman. They said he seemed to be in a better mood, and was laughing and joking with them.
At 9:45 a.m., the warden will read Brown's death warrant, and the execution is set to begin at 10 a.m. Though the victim's family is only permitted to have three witnesses inside the chamber, Salman's sister,Terri Rasul; brother, Walied Salman; son, Majdy Salman; and sister Inam Shahadeh, are all present. It was announced that Shahadeh will not be a witness.
Officials said seven family members will be on-site at the time of the execution. Brown's witnesses are Philips and Troutman.
Salman was killed during a robbery at his business, and Brown also was given a life sentence for the shooting death of clerk Hayder Al-Turk. Brown has made several attempts to avoid execution.
Valley Judge Maureen Sweeney last month ruled against a retrial for Brown, whose attorneys claimed two witnesses at this original trial lied on the stand. Sweeney determined the claims weren't credible. Judges with the 7th District Court of Appeals upheld Sweeney's ruling Tuesday.
Brown arrived at the death house just before 10 a.m. Wednesday. He had been held at the state prison in Youngstown.
Brown will be the third executed in Ohio under the state's new lethal injection method. The first was convicted Trumbull County killer Kenneth Biros.
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