The state of Florida on Thursday executed its first death row inmate in nearly two years, using a lethal injection cocktail that had never been tried before in the United States and putting to death the first white man convicted of killing a black man.

Mark Asay, 53, was sentenced to death in 1988 for a racially motivated double murder in Jacksonville, Florida a year earlier.

He became the first white man in state history to be executed for killing a black man.

Since the state reinstated death sentences in 1976, 20 black men have been executed for killing white victims, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The execution was carried out at 6:22 pm (22.22 GMT), the Florida Department of Corrections said.

For his last meal, Asay ordered fried pork chops, fried ham, fries, vanilla swirl ice cream and Coca-Cola, authorities said. He did not make a final statement.

Earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for Asay, who had challenged the state's plan to employ a lethal injection cocktail that includes etomidate, an anesthetic never before used in carrying out an execution in the US.

It replaces another drug, midazolam, which has been the subject of significant legal wrangling.