By Corey Bennett
On Thursday, January 25th, Kenneth Smith, an inmate from Alabama, was executed using nitrogen hypoxia. This is the first known use of this is being used for capital punishment, and Alabama’s attorney general plans to help aid other states who may be interested in adopting this new found form of execution.
Smith, had been sentenced to death due to his involvement in a 1988 murder-for-hire and had previously survived a failed lethal injection attempt in 2022, despite efforts by his legal team to try and stop the execution. They even tried to appeal to the US Supreme Court, though their efforts were very unsuccessful.
The time of his death was at 8:25 p.m. local time, with the process beginning at 7:53 p.m. After the execution, there was a conference held in which the Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm, said that the nitrogen was “Running for about 15 minutes.”
“Tonight Alabama caused humanity to take a step backward,” Smith said before he died, “ I’m leaving with love, peace and light, thank you for supporting me, love all of you,” he added.
At the new conference about Smith they were asked to describe it in which he appeared to be holding his breath “for as long as he could” and even “struggled against his restraints.”
Though there was nothing apparently “out of the ordinary” of what officials were expecting. However many are questioning if this method is “humane”, with advocates highlighting the fact that there could have been a lot of pain and secrecy surrounding the process.
beniciapaw.com 