Alabama Death Row Inmate Executed with Nitrogen Gas
Kenneth Eugene Smith, a death row inmate in Alabama, was executed on Thursday night, making him the first person in the US to be put to death using nitrogen gas. The Supreme Court refused to block the experimental execution, and Smith died at Holman Prison in Atmore. The toxic gas was administered through a mask, depriving his body of oxygen until he suffocated. Smith had spent over three decades behind bars after being convicted in the murder-for-hire of a preacher’s wife in 1988. He had previously survived a botched lethal injection in November 2022.
Before his execution, Smith expressed his fears about the controversial method and revealed that he was having nightmares. He met with family members and his spiritual adviser before his death. For his final meal, Smith requested a T-bone steak, hash browns, toast, and eggs smothered in A1 steak sauce.
The use of nitrogen gas for execution is a new method introduced since lethal injection was first used in 1982. Due to difficulties in obtaining the drugs used in lethal injections, Alabama decided to explore alternate means of execution and settled on nitrogen gas. However, experts have raised concerns about the method’s potential for causing pain and deemed it inhumane. The United Nations even urged Alabama to abandon its plans for Smith’s execution.
Smith’s attorneys argued that their client was being used as a “test subject” for the execution method and that it violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, along with two other liberal justices, dissented in the Supreme Court’s decision and criticized Alabama for selecting Smith as its “guinea pig.” Anti-death penalty activists have also condemned the experimentation on Smith, drawing comparisons to the actions of the Nazis during World War II.
Smith was convicted alongside another man for the murder-for-hire of a preacher’s wife. Each man was paid $1,000 to carry out the killing. The victim’s son expressed his belief that Smith deserved to pay for his actions.
In 2023, 24 inmates were executed in the US, all by lethal injection.
