Prolonged Execution in Alabama Raises Concerns

The State of Alabama executed Anthony Boyd by nitrogen suffocation yesterday. It was the longest execution recorded as a result of this experimental method of execution that raises serious concerns that Alabama is subjecting people to torture and cruelty.

His execution was carried out after three justices of the Supreme Court warned about the risk that Mr. Boyd would suffer during the execution. Earlier this week, Mr. Boyd's lawyers had asked the Court to stay the execution, arguing that Alabama's use of nitrogen suffocation as a method of execution was unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. While a majority of the Court denied the stay request, Justice Sotomayor, writing on behalf of Justices Kagan and Jackson, dissented due to concerns about the significant and lengthy suffering Mr. Boyd would be subjected to during his execution by nitrogen suffocation.

Justice Sotomayor wrote that Mr. Boyd would be subjected to "unnecessary psychological terror" throughout his execution, as he faced "up to seven full minutes of conscious, excruciating suffocation," during which time he would undergo "severe emotional suffering" while "consciously experiencing the 'primal urge to breath.'" This result amounted to a "superadded psychological torment" that "goes well beyond what is inherent in any constitutional method of execution."

Excruciating and Tormenting Effects of Nitrogen Suffocation

Justice Sotomayor pointed to witness accounts of the seven executions that have been carried out by nitrogen suffocation to date as evidence for the dissent's concerns about the excruciating and tormenting effects of the execution method.

In January, 2024, Kenneth Smith was forced to inhale nitrogen gas through a mask, writhed in pain, "thrash[ed] against the straps" binding him to the gurney, "violently jerk[ed]" his head and body back and forth for several minutes, "heav[ed] and retch[ed] inside the mask," clenched his fists, and gasped for air as fluid filled his mask. Mr. Smith was not pronounced deceased until 32 minutes had elapsed.

In September, 2024, Alan Miller "started to shake very intensely," "gasped, shook[,] and struggled against his restraints," and was not pronounced dead until more than 16 minutes elapsed.

In November, 2024, Carey Grayson "shook 'his head vigorously,'" "struggled[] while clearly still breathing," and "raised both of his legs far off the gurney as he pushed against the restraints" until he, too, was pronounced dead after 16 minutes.

In February and June 2025, respectively, Demetrius Frazier and Geoffrey Hunt both suffered from "apparent consciousness for minutes, not seconds; and violent convulsing, eyes bulging, consistent thrashing against the restraints, and clear gasping for the air that will not come."

And in September 2025, Geoffrey West "coughed and gasped deeply," "appeared to foam at the mouth," and rolled his head from side to side as his face became purple. These seven executions have made clear, Justice Sotomayor wrote, that "nitrogen hypoxia is not at all what it was promised to be."

"Shuddering, Open-mouthed, Chest-heaving Gasps"

The reality of Mr. Boyd's execution proved that the three dissenting justices' concerns over the continued use of nitrogen suffocation as an experimental method of execution were correct.

After being administered nitrogen gas through a mask, 38 minutes went by before Mr. Boyd was officially pronounced dead, a period of time the Commissioner for the Alabama Department of Corrections conceded was the longest for any execution carried out by nitrogen suffocation.

During those 38 minutes, Mr. Boyd's body "began to jolt," he "appeared to tremble and stutter," and "take deep, gasping breaths" that "appeared to speed up" and turned into "shuddering, open-mouthed, chest-heaving gasps" before Mr. Boyd took "a few shallow, choke-like breaths" that caused his head to "loll back and then to the side," all signs of suffering in line with the other individuals executed by nitrogen suffocation.

One witness commented that it looked like Mr. Boyd was "gasping for air," just as Justice Sotomayor feared.

Lee Hedgpeth, an official media witness, documented Mr. Boyd's suffering, including the fact that he "thrash[ed] against his restraints," that his "eyes rolled back, leaving only their whites, the color of the sheet," and that Mr. Boyd took a "series of deep, agonized breaths that last for more than 15 minutes, each break shuddering Boyd's restrained head and neck," and noted that Mr. Boyd was "still visibly moving during what may have been a consciousness check" many minutes after the execution had begun.

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