Alabama became the first state to execute a death row inmate, who was accused of killing a woman in a 1988 murder-for-hire plot, using nitrogen gas on Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene.
Officials said Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. ET at an Alabama prison after he breathed pure nitrogen gas through a face mask, causing oxygen deprivation. It marked the first time a new execution method has been used in the United States since the introduction of lethal injection, now the most commonly used method, in 1982.
The execution took about 22 minutes, and Mr. Smith appeared to remain conscious for several minutes. For at least two minutes, he appeared to shake and writhe on the gurney, sometimes pulling against the restraints. That was followed by several minutes of heavy breathing until breathing was no longer perceptible.
He made a “love” sign with his hands toward family members who were witnesses. “Thank you for supporting me. Love, love all of you,” Mr. Smith said.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said that the execution was justice for the murder-for-hire killing of 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett in 1988. Family members of Ms. Sennett said again this week that they supported using the death penalty against Mr. Smith.
“After more than 30 years and attempt after attempt to game the system, Mr. Smith has answered for his horrendous crimes … I pray that Elizabeth Sennett’s family can receive closure after all these years dealing with that great loss,” Ms. Ivey, a Republican, said in a statement.
Previously, the state attempted to execute Mr. Smith via lethal injection but failed.
Alabama officials then opted to use nitrogen gas, which was appealed by the inmate’s lawyers and reached the Supreme Court. So far, only three states—Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma—have approved the method of execution known as nitrogen hypoxia.
But on Wednesday, the U.S. high court declined to step in. The three Democrat-appointed justices—Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson—dissented.
Justice Sotomayor wrote: “Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has selected him as its ‘guinea pig’ to test a method of execution never attempted before. The world is watching.”
No statements were issued by the other six justices.
His attorneys argued last week, in part, that a second execution may violate the Constitution’s 8th Amendment that bars cruel and unusual punishment. They also argued in a lower court case that because he was vomiting, the nitrogen gas execution method may cause him to suffer a torturous death.
Earlier in the month, a judge ruled against Smith concerning the protocol. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision on Wednesday.
In their request to the appeals court, his attorneys wrote that Alabama changed its plans by creating a new schedule for him to have his last meal before death.
“While there is no doubt that a stay of execution is the exception and not the rule, it is difficult to imagine a more exceptional case than one in which a state intends to employ a novel protocol for a never-before-used method of execution, using a plan that continues to shift less than 48 hours before the execution is scheduled to begin,” his attorneys wrote.
Alabama officials, responding in court, stated that the evidence of Mr. Smith’s vomiting was based solely on his own reporting, suggesting that it may be inaccurate. They argued that the court should deny his request.
Mr. Smith’s lawyers wrote that, until his death on Thursday evening, the method of execution using nitrogen hypoxia had not been tested.
“There is little research regarding death by nitrogen hypoxia. When the sate is considering using a novel form of execution that has never been attempted anywhere, the public has an interest in ensuring the state has researched the method adequately and established procedures to minimize the pain and suffering of the condemned person,” his attorneys wrote.
The son of the victim, Charles Sennett Jr., told WAAY-TV that the inmate “has to pay for what he’s done,” adding: “And some of these people out there say, ‘Well, he doesn’t need to suffer like that.’ Well, he didn’t ask Mama how to suffer.”
“They just did it. They stabbed her, multiple times,” Mr. Sennett said, referring to the crime committed by Mr. Smith and another man, who was executed by the state about a decade ago.
He also told 1819 News that the family “want this to be over with, and I am sure his family does, too. It’s been 35 years.”
With the appeals to stay the execution, Mr. Sennett added: “He’s [Smith] actually probably laughing, or has been, because he said he would get out of that first one, and he did. So, this one better go through, or we are going to have some serious problems.”
