Kenneth Smith: Man convicted in 1989 killing of preacher's wife becomes first to be executed with nitrogen gas
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA: A prisoner who is facing the death penalty will be executed using nitrogen gas in the nation's first-ever nitrogen gas execution.
If his appeal is granted, Kenneth Smith is scheduled to be executed on Thursday and will be transferred to the "death cell" at the Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama on Tuesday.
Kenneth Smith to undergo nation's first-ever nitrogen gas execution
The 58-year-old will undergo the procedure a second time after an earlier botched lethal injection didn't work.
As reported by The Guardian, before being put to death, Smith stated, "I am not ready for that. Not in no kind of way. I'm just not ready, brother."
The murderer who was found guilty has described how a recurrent nightmare of being led back into the execution chamber has plagued him.
"All I had to do was walk into the room in the dream for it to be overwhelming. I was absolutely terrified. It kept coming up," he remarked.
"I dream that they're coming to get me," he further added. In November 2022, Alabama tried to put him to death by lethal injection.
After nearly four hours of being strapped to the gurney in the execution chamber in preparation for a lethal injection, the state canceled the procedure when personnel struggled to attach the second of the two necessary intravenous lines to his veins.
How will nitrogen gas kill Kenneth Smith?
The use of nitrogen hypoxia for the death penalty is permitted in Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Nevertheless, it has never been used to execute a prisoner.
Smith would be put to death by a gas mask covering his mouth and nose, which would replace oxygen-rich air with nitrogen, causing Smith to become oxygen-starved.
The murderer's attorneys have claimed that the new method of execution is unconstitutional and have brought up religious objections, Mirror reported.
His lawyers claimed that the mask Alabama plans to cover his face with before execution witnesses show up would prevent him from saying a prayer out loud and from giving one last speech before being executed.
The state remarked in a court document that it will cover Smith's face with a "NIOSH-approved Type-C full facepiece supplied air respirator"—a kind of mask usually used in industrial settings to deliver life-preserving oxygen—after he is strapped to the gurney.
After reading Smith the death warrant and asking if he has any final remarks, the warden will turn on "the nitrogen hypoxia system" from a separate room.
The state protocol states that the gas will be administered for at least fifteen minutes, or "five minutes following a flatline indication on the EKG, whichever is longer."
