The State of Alabama in the United States of America, on Thursday, executed convicted murderer Kenneth Smith, who held his breath in vain while officials used nitrogen gas to suffocate him, making it the first time a new form the death punishment had been used since lethal injections were first used in the United States forty years ago.
Convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, Smith was one of the few inmates who have previously escaped one attempt at death. The execution by lethal injection was postponed in November 2022 by Alabama officials due to difficulties lasting hours to get the needle into his body through an intravenous line.
The new, thoroughly monitored process is being referred to by the state as “the most painless and humane method of execution known to man.” Although witnesses on Thursday said that it seemed to take several minutes longer, the prediction was that Smith would lose consciousness in less than a minute and would pass away shortly after.
Asphyxiation has been promoted by Alabama as a less complicated option for prison systems that are having trouble locating veins or the necessary medications for fatal injections.
Human rights organisations, UN experts on torture, and Smith’s attorneys had pushed to stop it, claiming the procedure was dangerous, experimental, and could end in a painful death or non-fatal damage.
On Thursday, during Smith’s last and second visit to the death chamber, executioners shackled him to a stretcher and secured a commercial industrial-safety respirator mask over his face. The mask had a canister of pure nitrogen attached to it, which, when it started to flow, robbed him of oxygen.
According to prison officials, Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. (0325 WAT) on Friday after the execution started at 7:53 p.m. (0253 WAT).
Five journalists who watched the execution through a glass as media witnesses said that Smith seemed to be conscious for a few minutes after the nitrogen was ignited. He then started tossing his head and writhing for almost two minutes, even though the mask was also fastened to the gurney. The witnesses reported that after a few minutes, he could be observed breathing deeply until it slowed down and became inaudible.
The Alabama Corrections Commissioner, John Hamm, spoke in a press conference saying, “It appeared that Smith was holding his breath as long as he could. He struggled against the restraints a little bit but it’s an involuntary movement and some agonal breathing. So that was all expected.”
Smith’s spiritual advisor, Rev. Jeff Hood, was there during the execution and reported that the prison officials present “were visibly surprised at how bad this thing went.”
The reverend, who attended his fifth execution in the last 15 months, said, “What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for their life. We saw minutes of someone heaving back and forth. We saw spit. We saw all sorts of stuff from his mouth develop on the mask. We saw this mask tied to the gurney, and him ripping his head forward over and over and over again.”
Smith, before the nitrogen was switched on, made a lengthy final statement which he began with, “Tonight, Alabama caused humanity to take a step backward.”
Media witnesses said that he motioned to his wife and other family members who were present as he remarked, “I’m leaving with love, peace, and light. Love all of you.”
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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