Alabama Executes Man Using Controversial Nitrogen Gas Method

Anthony Boyd, convicted of a 1993 capital murder in Alabama, was executed by nitrogen hypoxia, a method involving inhaling pure nitrogen gas that causes death by oxygen deprivation. Boyd was sentenced to death for his role in the kidnapping and murder of Gregory Huguley, who was set on fire over a $200 drug debt. Despite maintaining his innocence and arguing that nitrogen hypoxia causes "extreme pain and terror of suffocation," multiple courts, including the US Supreme Court, denied requests to halt or examine the execution method further. Witnesses described the roughly 30-minute execution, noting Boyd's gestures to supporters and his final words, wherein he criticized the Alabama justice system as politically motivated and lacking true justice. Alabama began using nitrogen gas executions last year, and Boyd's was among the seven such executions nationally, with Alabama performing six. The use of nitrogen hypoxia has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane, reflecting ongoing controversies over capital punishment methods in the United States.