Alabama carried out its first nitrogen gas execution Thursday night, following a Supreme Court ruling denying attempts to block its use.
Kenneth Smith, a 58-year-old Alabama inmate, died at 8:25 p.m., moments before speaking his final words, accusing the state of taking a “step backwards” in the execution process. according to Go to NPR. (Related: Supreme Court refuses to halt Alabama's execution of inmates with nitrogen gas)
“Tonight, Alabama set humanity back,” Smith said. “I leave here with love, peace and light. Thank you for supporting me, I love you all.”
Officials with the Alabama Department of Corrections said the execution began at about 7:53 p.m., when Smith was injected with nitrogen gas through a mask for about 15 minutes. According to NPR, Smith was flanked by two executioners and his spiritual advisor, the Rev. Jeff Hood. A media witness reportedly said Smith was conscious for 10 minutes after the gas was administered, but that he began shaking and struggling on the stretcher for two minutes, followed by about five minutes of heavy breathing, the newspaper reported. reported.
Corrections Director Jon Hamm later said at a news conference that the inmate appeared to be holding his breath for as long as possible under the mask. according to Go to NBC News. Hamm also said that “involuntary movements” were expected in an execution and “there was nothing out of the ordinary.”
Breaking news: Execution by nitrogen gas carried out in Alabama https://t.co/bXaTLnP1CJ
— WSFA 12 News (@wsfa12news) January 26, 2024
Mr. Smith was previously convicted and sentenced to death for his role in the 1988 murder-for-hire of a pastor's wife. According to NBC News, Smith, who was 22 at the time, was approached by a pastor named Charles Sennett along with two others to kill his wife, Elizabeth Sennett, and each was offered $1,000. Sennett was trying to collect his wife's life insurance money, which resulted in her wife being beaten and stabbed to death in her home by her hired men.
Sennett later committed suicide, as did one of the hired men executed by the state in 2010. The jury voted 11-1 to sentence Smith to life in prison, but the presiding judge had previously decided to sentence Smith to death in 1996, NBC News reported.
State authorities first attempted to execute Smith in November 2022, but prison staff failed to insert a needle into the appropriate vein.The failed attempt is over prompt Alabama officials are pausing the lethal injection process in 2022 and are calling for a reassessment of the method.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to block Smith's execution, despite a motion filed by his lawyer to do so. Says Nitrogen gas has “never been tested.” Following the judges' denial, Smith's lawyers made one last attempt Thursday to block the execution, according to NBC News.
new: #scotus The execution of Alabama death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith will not be halted. The death row inmate is scheduled to be the first death row inmate to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia after his first execution by lethal injection failed. There were no notable objections. No, 23A664. pic.twitter.com/WWREiFe7ur
— Kimberly Robinson (@KimberlyRobinsn) January 24, 2024
Smith's lawyers had hoped new laws would be enacted in the state to prevent inmates from suffering the same fate as Smith, but Sennett's sons wanted “closure”. NBC News reported that he said he was.
“He has never apologized to us for this,” Charles Sennett Jr. said, according to NBC News. “Not in letters, not in words through his spiritual advisors or anyone else. If he had done something similar years ago, we would have had a little more compassion for the man.” I might have held you.”
“As Christians, we forgave him,” Sennett said.
