[UPDATE] Alabama Carries Out First Nitrogen Execution of Convicted Individual

Alabama carried out its first nitrogen execution of a convicted individual, Kenneth Smith, on Thursday evening following the murderer's failed last-minute appeal.

The state governor, Kay Ivey, announced the development and marked the first execution using asphyxiation by nitrogen gas. This is a new form of capital punishment that Alabama is advancing as a simpler alternative to lethal injections.

Alabama's First Nitrogen Execution

(Photo : Daniel Munoz / AFP) (DANIEL MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Alabama carried out its first nitrogen execution after handing out the new form of capital punishment on convicted murderer Kenneth Smith.(not actual photo)

The state has also called its new protocol "the most painless and humane method of execution known to man." On the other hand, United Nations human rights experts and lawyers for the executed convict had tried to prevent the new form of capital punishment. They said that the method is risky, experimental, and could lead to a torturous death or non-fatal injury.

Alabama prison officials and journalists who observed Smith's execution were due to brief reporters later on Thursday evening about the method. The individual, who survived the state's previous botched attempt to execute him by lethal injection, was convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, as per Reuters.

Smith was a rare prisoner who had already been put through a previous execution attempt. In November 2022, Alabama officials chose to abort his execution by lethal injection after struggling for hours to insert an intravenous line needle into the convict's body.

The murder that Smith was convicted of was the killing of 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett who died on Mar. 18, 1988. Ivery issued a statement that her life was brutally taken from her by Smith, who she said has now paid for his horrendous crimes.

Breathing pure nitrogen without oxygen will cause a person's cells to break down and eventually lead to death. The state of Alabama said in a court filing that it was expected Smith would lose consciousness within a few seconds and lose his life in a matter of minutes.

However, some medical professionals have warned against the new form of capital punishment, saying it could lead to violent convulsions or fail to kill off a convict and leave them in a vegetative state, according to BBC.

Death by Nitrogen Asphyxiation

There are currently three states, including Alabama, in the U.S. that have approved the use of nitrogen hypoxia as an alternative method of execution. This is because the drugs that are used in lethal injections have become more difficult to find, which has contributed to a fall in the number of executions nationally.

Prior to the execution, Smith's lawyers lodged a challenge with the Supreme Court where they argued that pitting convicts through multiple execution attempts violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Smith's crime was orchestrated by Sennett's husband, Charles, who recruited two individuals, including Smith. He agreed to pay each of them $1,000 to kill his wife and make it look like she died in a burglary so that he could collect insurance money.

The convict was initially sentenced to death before an appeals court overturned the decision and ordered a new trial. During that trial, the jury voted 11-1 for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, the judge in the second trial vetoed the jury's vote and sentenced him to death nonetheless, said CNN.