Alabama is attracting international attention following the nitrogen gas execution of Carey Grayson. The UK’s Daily Mail is describing the method as controversial while Britain’s Daily Star called the process agonizing torture. Grayson was one of four teens convicted of killing a hitch hiker by throwing her off a cliff. It was the third execution in the U.S. using nitrogen gas, all carried out in Alabama this year.
The Alabama inmate reportedly cursed at the prison warden and made obscene gestures with his hands shortly before he was put to death in the nation's third execution using nitrogen gas, all in Alabama. Grayson, while strapped to a gurney with a blue-rimmed gas mask strapped to his face, raised both of his middle fingers and cursed at the prison warden. When the prison warden asked for his final statement, Grayson responded with an obscenity. The warden turned off the microphone. Grayson appeared to address the witness room with state officials.
It was unclear when the gas began flowing. Grayson shook and pulled against the gurney restraints. His sheet-wrapped legs at one point lifted off the gurney in the air. He then clenched his fist and appeared to struggle to try to gesture again, then took a series of gasping breaths for several minutes before becoming still.
Grayson was pronounced dead at 6:33 p.m.
Alabama began using nitrogen gas earlier this year to carry out some executions. The method involves placing a respirator gas mask over the person's face to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing death by lack of oxygen.
The execution was carried out hours after the U.S. Supreme Court turned down Grayson's request for a stay. His attorneys had argued that the method needed more scrutiny before being used again.
Governor Kay Ivey issued a statement minutes after Thursday's execution saying she was praying for the murder victim's loved ones to find closure and healing still decades after the crime.
Grayson was the only one of the four teens who faced a death sentence since the other teens were under 18 at the time of the killing. Grayson was 19. Two of the teens were initially sentenced to death but those sentences were set aside when the Supreme Court banned the execution of offenders who were younger than 18 at the time of their crimes. Another teen involved in the killing was sentenced to life in prison.
