Alabama has conducted the first known execution in the United States using nitrogen gas. Kenneth Eugene Smith, a convicted murderer, was pronounced dead after a controversial execution process that involved the use of nitrogen hypoxia. Witnesses reported a violent reaction from Smith during the process, and the execution has sparked differing reactions across the country.
- Alabama carried out the first known execution by nitrogen gas on Kenneth Eugene Smith.
- Smith was executed for the 1988 capital murder of Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett.
- The Supreme Court denied a last-minute appeal by Smith’s lawyers who claimed the method was cruel and unusual punishment.
- Witnesses described Smith’s reaction to the execution as violent, unlike any previous executions they had seen in Alabama.
- Charles Sennett, the son of the victim, expressed that the execution would not bring back his mother but provided a sense of closure.
- Reactions to the execution are mixed, with some seeing it as justice served, while others question the method’s humaneness.
- Alabama Governor Kay Ivey stated that Smith had answered for his crimes after over 30 years of legal delays.
- Nitrogen gas was chosen as the method after previous difficulties in administering lethal injection to Smith.
- The execution process involved Smith inhaling nitrogen gas, which deprived his body of oxygen.
- Witnesses to the execution reported that Smith was gasping for breath and took several minutes to die after the nitrogen gas was administered.
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