Alabama puts to death Kenneth Smith in first known execution using nitrogen gas

Atmore, Alabama CNN — Alabama on Thursday night executed Kenneth Smith, the first death row inmate known to die by nitrogen gas, marking the emergence of a wholly new method of execution in the United States that experts have said could lead to excessive pain or even torture. In a joint report, witnesses from the media said Smith made a lengthy statement before he died, saying, “Tonight Alabama caused humanity to take a step backward,” and adding, “I’m leaving with love, peace and light, thank you for supporting me, love all of you.” Smith appeared conscious for “several minutes into the execution,” and for two minutes after that, he “shook and writhed on a gurney,” according to the media witness report. That was followed by several minutes of deep breathing before his breath began slowing “until it was no longer perceptible for media witnesses.” When asked at the news conference about Smith shaking during the start of the execution, Hamm said Smith appeared to be holding his breath “for as long as he could” and may have also “struggled against his restraints.” “There was some involuntary movement and some agonal breathing, so that was all expected and is in the side effects that we’ve seen and researched on nitrogen hypoxia,” Hamm added. Another witness, Smith’s spiritual adviser who’d previously expressed concern that the method could be inhumane, described the death in more graphic terms, saying it was “the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen.” Smith, wearing a mask through which the nitrogen was administered, convulsed when the gas was turned on, “popped up on the gurney” repeatedly, and gasped and heaved, the Rev. “They switched the method, and now they’re saying they have the skill to carry out a method that’s untested and never been used before.” Smith’s jury voted 11-1 for life sentence Smith was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Sennett, whose husband, Charles, was having an affair and had taken out an insurance policy on his wife, according to court records.