Alabama carries out 2nd nitrogen gas execution in US
Alabama has carried out the second execution by nitrogen gas in the United States. The condemned man, Alan Eugene Miller, was pronounced dead at 6:38pm local time on Thursday at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. According to the state Department of Corrections, Miller shook and trembled on the gurney for about two minutes with his body at times pulling against restraints before gasping for breath for approximately six minutes.
Miller's crime and trial details
Miller, a delivery truck driver, was convicted of capital murder for the August 5, 1999 shootings that claimed three lives in Pelham. He had initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but later withdrew the plea. A psychiatrist hired by the defense stated that Miller was mentally ill but his condition wasn't severe enough to use as a basis for an insanity defense. Jurors convicted Miller after 20 minutes of deliberation and recommended that he receive the death penalty.
Miller's conviction and previous execution attempt
He was initially set to die in 2022 but was given a reprieve when officials were unable to establish an intravenous line to administer his lethal injection. This execution marks the second time Alabama has used nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment, following its first use in January on Kenneth Smith. The process involves placing a respirator gas mask over the inmate's face to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing death by lack of oxygen.
Debate over humaneness of nitrogen gas execution
The use of nitrogen gas in executions has been a subject of debate, with critics questioning its humaneness. Concerns were raised after Smith's execution when he shook in seizure-like spasms for more than two minutes while strapped to the gurney and then gasped for breath for several minutes. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm defended the procedure as "textbook," despite it being the first of its kind.
Surge in executions defies declining death penalty trend
Miller's execution is part of a series of five scheduled within one week, an unusually high number that contradicts a yearslong trend of decline in the use of the death penalty in the US. The other executions took place in South Carolina, Texas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. According to the non-profit Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), Miller's execution is the 1,600th in the US since the Supreme Court reintroduced the death sentence in 1976.
