Kenneth Eugene Smith.Photo:Alabama Department of Corrections via AP
Alabama Department of Corrections via AP
•Kenneth Eugene Smith became the first person in the United States to be executed using nitrogen gas
•The Alabama Supreme Court allowed his execution in a November ruling
•The execution was controversial, with Smith’s advocates calling the method “experimental”
Alabama carried out thecontroversial executionof a death row inmate using a method known as nitrogen hypoxia, the firsttime the practice has ever been used in the United States.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, who has been on death row since 1990, was executed Thursday night, according to reports fromCNN,CBS NewsandNPR.
The execution began at 7:53 p.m. and Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25. Officials said nitrogen flowed for 15 minutes and that a nitrogen mask was kept on Smith for five minutes after he flatlined, the outlets reported.
NPR and theAssociated Pressreported that Smith writhed and shook violently for about two minutes on the gurney, before five minutes of heavy breathing, citing media witnesses.
“Tonight Alabama caused humanity to take a step backward,” Smith reportedly said in his last words, per the outlets. “I’m leaving with love, peace and light. Thank you for supporting me. Love all of you.”
Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi are the only states that have authorized nitrogen hypoxia for executions, theAssociated Pressreported. Alabama became the first to actually utilize the procedure, which involves forcing pure nitrogen into the inmate’s lungs while cutting off the oxygen supply, according to the AP.
The execution was set after the Alabama Supreme Court voted 6 to 2 in November to grant state Attorney General Steve Marshall’s execution warrant. On Thursday the United States Supreme Court declined to stop Smith’s execution, despite three dissenting justices.
“With deep sadness, but commitment to the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment, I respectfully dissent,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent.
Alabama officials have claimed nitrogen hypoxia is, “the most painless and humane method of execution known to man,” according to NPR’s reporting, though the American Veterinary Medical Association called the method “unacceptable” for all mammals except pigs.
CBS reported a joint statement from Smith and his spiritual advisor Rev. Jeff Hood, sent out the afternoon of the execution, criticizing the use of nitrogen hypoxia.
“Our prayer is that people will not turn their heads. We simply cannot normalize the suffocation of each other,” the statement reportedly said.
After taking out an insurance policy on his wife, Sennett hired a group of men, including Smith, to kill Elizabeth and to make it look like a burglary gone wrong, according to a confession included in the decision. She was killed after being stabbed multiple times.
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Smith already survived a previous execution attempt in 2022, reported AL.com. He was reportedly strapped to a gurney, set to die from lethal injection, when the execution was halted because workers did not think they could carry out the process before the death warrant expired at midnight.
“It’s kind of a bittersweet day. We’re not going to be jumping around,” he reportedly said. “But we’re glad this day is over.”
source: people.com
