Reverend Who Advised Alabama Man Executed By Nitrogen Gas Calls His Death ‘The Most Horrible Thing I Have Ever Seen’

Death row inmate Kenneth Smith of Alabama was put to death on Thursday. His execution was carried out using a new method involving nitrogen hypoxia.

Alabama’s Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) commented on the new method, claiming, “What occurred last night was textbook,” during a press conference on Friday. “And I now suspect that many states will follow. As of last night, nitrogen hypoxia as a means of execution is no longer an untested method. It is a proven one.”

Smith was sentenced to death in 1988 for his involvement in a murder-for-hire case. The case resulted in the death of Elizabeth Sennett, a preacher’s wife. Execution by lethal injection for Smith was scheduled for November 2022. However, officials could not carry it out successfully, thus delaying the execution.

Smith’s legal team fought his execution, hoping to opt for a life sentence without possibility of parole. They expressed their objections to nitrogen hypoxia, saying it was more painful than officials had expected. Smith was ultimately still sentenced to death.

During Smith’s execution, it was expected that he would lose consciousness in seconds, followed by death minutes after. Smith’s religious advisor, Reverend Jeff Hood, who witnessed the execution, says he saw Smith convulsing and gasping while on the gurney. Hood also said it was “the most horrible thing [he’s] ever seen.”

The White House administration also expressed their concerns, claiming it was “troubling.”

According to Marshall, 43 other Alabama inmates on death row have chosen nitrogen hypoxia for their executions. During Friday’s press conference, he stated it was the method that “Kenneth Smith ultimately chose” for himself.

In 2020, Daniel Lewis Lee became the first man executed by the federal government since 2003.