“The World is Watching”: Witnesses Report Kenneth Smith Appeared Conscious, ​“Shook and Writhed” During First-Ever Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution

On January 25, 2024, Alabama exe­cut­ed Kenneth Smith using nitro­gen hypox­ia, a first in American his­to­ry. Though state attor­neys had assured courts that the method would cause ​“uncon­scious­ness in sec­onds,” wit­ness­es report­ed that Mr. Smith appeared awake for sev­er­al min­utes after the nitro­gen gas began. They observed that he ​“shook and writhed” for at least four min­utes before breath­ing heav­i­ly for anoth­er few min­utes. ​“This was the fifth exe­cu­tion that I’ve wit­nessed in Alabama, and I have nev­er seen such a vio­lent reac­tion to an exe­cu­tion,” said media wit­ness Lee Hedgepeth. Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said the nitro­gen gas flowed for about 15 min­utes. Mr. Smith, 58, was pro­nounced dead 32 min­utes after the cur­tains opened on the execution chamber.

Mr. Smith would not have been sen­tenced to death today. His jury vot­ed 11 – 1 in favor of a life sen­tence, but the judge over­rode the rec­om­men­da­tion and imposed a death sen­tence in a prac­tice now out­lawed nation­wide. Mr. Smith also sur­vived a botched lethal injec­tion attempt in November 2022 in which Alabama offi­cials strapped him to the gur­ney for four hours and insert­ed nee­dles into his mus­cles. He was one of the few peo­ple in his­to­ry to face exe­cu­tion twice, and expe­ri­enced severe PTSD symp­toms lead­ing up to his sec­ond execution date. 

The Supreme Court denied a stay of exe­cu­tion and cer­tio­rari review to Mr. Smith over the dis­sents of Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson. ​“Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has select­ed him as its ​‘guinea pig’ to test a method of exe­cu­tion nev­er attempt­ed before,” wrote Justice Sotomayor. Justice Kagan, joined by Justice Jackson, empha­sized the risk of Mr. Smith chok­ing on his own vom­it as he was deprived of oxy­gen. Prison offi­cials did not allow Mr. Smith to eat in the ten hours before the exe­cu­tion or drink in the four hours before. Medical experts had also raised the risk of nitro­gen hypox­ia putting a pris­on­er into a veg­e­ta­tive state or harm­ing staff and advi­sors in the exe­cu­tion cham­ber if the gas leaked. ​“With deep sad­ness, but com­mit­ment to the Eighth Amendment’s pro­tec­tion against cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment, I respect­ful­ly dis­sent,” Justice Sotomayor wrote. ​“The world is watching.” 

“Tonight Alabama caus­es human­i­ty to take a step back­wards,” Mr. Smith said in his last words. ​“I’m leav­ing with love, peace, and light.” He signed ​“I love you” to his fam­i­ly after the gas mask was put on. 

See DPI’s pre­vi­ous report­ing on Mr. Smith’s legal his­to­ry and first exe­cu­tion date, botched first exe­cu­tion, and legal chal­lenges to nitro­gen hypox­ia. 

This sto­ry has been updat­ed to reflect new infor­ma­tion regard­ing Mr. Smith’s execution.