An Alabama death row inmate was executed on Thursday night, becoming the first person in the US to be executed by nitrogen gas, officials confirmed.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, died at Holman Prison in Atmore after the Supreme Court refused to block the experiment.
Smith was inhaled toxic gas through a mask, which deprived his body of oxygen until he suffocated.
He was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m
“Tonight Alabama caused humanity to take a step back. … I go with love, peace and light,” Smith said in a final statement.
He flashed an “I love you” sign with his hand towards the family members who were in the room as witnesses.
“Thank you for supporting me. Love, love you all,” he told them.
The execution took about 22 minutes in total, during several minutes in which Smith appeared to remain conscious, according to the Associated Press.
For at least two minutes, he was seen squirming on the gurney, occasionally pulling away from the restraints. He then breathed heavily for several minutes until his breath was no longer visible.
Smith spent more than three decades in prison after he was convicted of the murder-for-hire of a preacher’s wife in 1988.
A federal appeals court rejected Smith’s second attempt to halt the execution on Wednesday, and the Supreme Court cleared the way at the last minute on Thursday.
He previously survived a botched lethal injection in the same death row in November 2022, after the doctor who administered the deadly chemical poked and prodded him trying to find the right vein for hours before it was called off.
Kenneth Eugene Smith was executed in Alabama on Thursday. via REUTERS
Earlier this week, he told The Guardian that he was “not ready” to die at the hands of the controversial method and was having nightmares ahead of his execution date.
“I am still suffering from the first execution and now we are doing this again. They won’t let me suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder,” the dead man told the newspaper.
Before his death, he met with his family member and spiritual advisor, Rev. Jeff Hood.
Smith was the first prisoner to be executed by nitrogen gas. Alabama Department of Corrections
For his final meal, Smith scoffed down a T-bone steak, French fries, toast and eggs dipped in A1 steak sauce, Hood told the Associated Press.
“He was afraid of the torture that could come. But he was also calm. One of the things he told me was that he was going to get out eventually,” Hood said ahead of the execution.
Smith’s execution of nitrogen gas is the first time a new method has been introduced since lethal injection was first used in 1982.
The drugs used in lethal injection have become increasingly difficult to obtain in recent years, prompting Alabama to seek alternative methods of execution. It settles on nitrogen gas.
Elizabeth Sennett was murdered by Smith in 1988. Find the grave
Nitrogen gas had never been used to kill a human being in the US until Thursday – and Alabama was only one of three states that allowed its use for execution.
The method is sometimes used to kill animals — and experts warn that using it on prisoners would be a painful and inhumane way to die. The method even caught the attention of the United Nations, which urged Alabama to scrap its plans for Smith’s execution.
Smith’s lawyers argued that the state was using their clients as “test subjects” for execution methods. They argue that the practice violates the constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment and deserves more legal scrutiny before it is used on a person.
Smith inhaled the poisonous gas until he suffocated. CBS News
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who along with two other liberal justices dissented in the Supreme Court’s decision, wrote Thursday night: “After failing to kill Smith on the first try, Alabama has chosen him as a ‘guinea pig’ to test execution methods. never tried before. The world is watching.”
Abraham Bonowitz, co-founder of Death Penalty Action, likened the Alabama “experiment” on Smith to what the Nazis did to Jews during World War II.
Jeffrey Keller, president of the American College of Correctional Physicians, told The Post that the execution is similar to putting a plastic bag over someone’s head — but instead of being poisoned by carbon dioxide, he will be breathing in nitrogen.
“Basically, it’s the same thing,” he said.
Anti-death penalty activists place signs along the road leading to AP’s Holman Correctional Facility
Smith was one of two men convicted in the murder-for-hire of a preacher’s wife in 1988. Each man was paid $1,000 to kill Elizabeth Sennett on behalf of her husband, Charles Sennett, who wanted to collect insurance money.
Sennet was found stabbed to death in his home. The preacher killed himself a week after his death as detectives pursued him as a suspect.
The victim’s son, Charles Sennett Jr., said in an interview with WAAY-TV that Smith “has to pay for what he did.”
“And some people out there say, ‘Well, he didn’t have to suffer like that.’ Uh, he didn’t ask Mama how to suffer?” the child said. “They just do it. They stabbed him – many times.”
Twenty-four prisoners were executed in the US in 2023, all by lethal injection.
By Postal Wire
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
