Fri Nov 22 04:36:47 UTC 2024: ## Alabama Executes Death Row Inmate by Controversial Nitrogen Gas Method
**Montgomery, AL** – Carey Grayson, 50, was executed Thursday in Alabama using nitrogen gas, becoming the third person in the U.S. to be put to death by this controversial method. Grayson’s execution followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of a stay, rejecting arguments that nitrogen asphyxiation constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
Grayson was convicted in the 1994 murder of Vickie Lynn Deblieux, a hitchhiker whose mutilated body was found with over 180 stab wounds and significant mutilation. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall declared, “Tonight, justice has been served.”
Alabama is the only state to have used nitrogen gas executions, carrying out three this year. While state officials claim it’s a humane method, critics argue it constitutes torture. Reports indicate Grayson exhibited distress during the execution, shaking his head and struggling against restraints before being pronounced dead. Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Q Hamm dismissed the visible distress as “for show.”
The UN has condemned the method, with a group of experts calling for a global ban, stating that execution by nitrogen gas violates international law against cruel and inhuman punishment.
The execution underscores the ongoing debate surrounding capital punishment in the United States. Twenty-one states currently permit the death penalty, and 22 executions have been carried out nationwide this year.
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