The state of Alabama executed Kenneth Eugene Smith on Thursday evening, marking the first time nitrogen gas had been used to carry out a death sentence in the United States. Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 PM CST after breathing pure nitrogen through a face mask for approximately 22 minutes at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.
Method Approved Since 2018
Alabama authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an alternative execution method to lethal injection in 2018, joining Oklahoma and Mississippi as the only states to do so. No executions had taken place by this method until Smith, who had initially been scheduled to die by lethal injection in November 2022. However, the state called off Smith’s execution after failing to set IV lines in time.
Following this botched lethal injection attempt, Smith himself requested death by nitrogen gas rather than face a second lethal injection. His attorneys unsuccessfully sued to block the nitrogen method, arguing it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-minute stay request shortly before the execution was carried out on Thursday.
How Nitrogen Executions Work
Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air we breathe, but inhaling pure nitrogen displaces oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions. Condemned prisoners are fitted with a mask supplying 100% nitrogen, which causes death by hypoxia and eventual brain death due to lack of oxygen.
Advocates argue nitrogen hypoxia is humane and painless compared to other execution methods. Critics counter that it remains untested and subjects inmates to mental anguish from suffocation before loss of consciousness. Medical experts say nitrogen gas executions take longer than lethal injection.
Alabama’s protocol called for administering nitrogen for a minimum of 15 minutes after the warden read Smith’s death warrant. According to media witnesses, Smith appeared conscious for several minutes as he shook and writhed against his restraints. He mouthed words to his family before falling still around 17 minutes into the procedure.
Reactions from Officials, Advocates
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey released a statement saying “at long last, Mr. Smith got what he asked for, and this case can finally be put to rest.” She maintained the execution followed state protocol and occurred by the method Smith requested.
Human rights groups strongly condemned Smith’s execution. “No matter the method, the purposeful taking of a human life is cruel, inhumane, and a violation of human rights,” said Kristina Roth of Amnesty International USA. “The world is watching Alabama, and state officials’ hubris and cruelty will not go unseen.”
While lethal injection remains predominant, nitrogen gas has gained traction in states struggling to obtain drugs. Its legality is still being contested, but Alabama’s execution of Smith could open the door for its adoption in other states.
Kenneth Smith’s Crimes
A Mobile County jury convicted Smith in 1996 for the murder-for-hire killing of Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett. Charles Sennett, the victim’s husband, hired Smith and an accomplice to kill his wife in 1988 and collect an insurance payout.
Charles Sennett planned the scheme with insurance agent John Forrest Parker, who recruited Smith and paid him $1,000. Sennett killed himself shortly after his wife’s murder as the plot unraveled. Parker was executed by lethal injection in 2010.
The jury recommended a life sentence for Smith, but the judge overrode their verdict and sentenced him to death. Smith spent more than 30 years on death row at Holman before his execution at the age of 58. He declined to make a final statement.
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