Alabama has executed its third inmate this year using a contentious method labeled as ‘grim’ and akin to ‘torture’.
On November 21, Carey Dale Grayson was executed at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama.
The 50-year-old was one of four teenagers found guilty of the murder of 37-year-old Vickie DeBlieux.
Nitrogen hypoxia involves placing a mask over the inmate’s mouth and nose, compelling them to inhale pure nitrogen, which deprives the body of oxygen and leads to death.
Supporters of the method claim it is a quick and painless form of execution.
The Independent reports that inmates in Alabama are given the option to choose between electrocution, lethal injection, and nitrogen hypoxia for their execution method, with Grayson opting for nitrogen.
However, Grayson’s lawyers petitioned the US Supreme Court to delay the execution in hopes of altering the method used.
The first execution using nitrogen hypoxia was that of Kenneth Smith in February this year. A United Nations report revealed it took ‘more than 20 minutes’ for Smith to die, during which he ‘writhed and convulsed on the gurney’.
Alabama state lawyers argued that the ‘nitrogen hypoxia protocol has been successfully used twice, resulting in death within minutes each time’.
UN experts have called for an ‘urgent ban’ on this execution method, asserting it is ‘clearly prohibited under international law’ according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The press release highlights: “We emphasise that the prohibition on torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is absolute, never acceptable and not dependant on alternatives.”
Regarding Grayson’s situation, given reports of his abusive and neglected childhood and possible bipolar disorder, experts expressed ‘concern over the lack of effective legal assistance and accommodations to ensure a fair trial and due process for individuals with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities’.
Vickie DeBlieux’s daughter also voiced her disapproval of the execution.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey remarked: “Mr. Grayson’s crimes against Ms. DeBlieux were heinous, unimaginable, without an ounce of regard for human life and just unexplainably mean.
“An execution by nitrogen hypoxia bares no comparison to the death and dismemberment Ms. DeBlieux experienced. I pray for her loved ones that they may continue finding closure and healing.”
Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Q Hamm noted that the nitrogen flowed for 15 minutes during Grayson’s execution, with his heart ceasing to beat after 10.
Vickie’s daughter, while remembering her ‘unique, spontaneous, wild and funny’ mother, reflected on the reported abuse Grayson faced as a child.
She commented: “I have to wonder how all of this slips through the cracks of our justice system, because society failed this man as a child, and my family suffered because of it.”