Alabama Executes Anthony Boyd by Nitrogen Hypoxia

Alabama executed Anthony Boyd by nitrogen hypoxia at William C. Holman Correctional Facility for his role in the 1993 burning death of Gregory Huguley, a killing prosecutors say stemmed from a reported $200 drug debt. Boyd, who spent more than 30 years on death row and had urged Gov. Kay Ivey to meet with him before his execution, used his final words to proclaim his innocence and criticize the justice system. The state's gas-mask nitrogen hypoxia method — used repeatedly in Alabama since 2024 — is controversial; independent witnesses and critics said Boyd showed extended gasping, heaving and movements before becoming still, prompting renewed questions about whether the method constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Boyd's appeals, including requests to be executed by firing squad and constitutional challenges to nitrogen hypoxia, were denied by lower courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, where Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented calling the method 'torturous'.