Kenneth Eugene Smith, a convicted murderer, was executed in Alabama using nitrogen gas, a controversial method that has been criticized as inhumane. The execution took place at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Despite a last-minute legal battle, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state, allowing them to proceed with the execution. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Jackson dissented.
Smith’s execution gained international attention due to the use of nitrogen gas, which causes oxygen deprivation and ultimately leads to death. His lawyers argued that Alabama was using him as a “test subject” for an untried execution method after he survived a previous botched lethal injection in 2022. They raised concerns about the lack of research and established procedures to minimize the pain and suffering of the condemned.
The 2022 botched execution lasted over four hours and caused Smith severe physical and psychological pain, including post-traumatic stress disorder, according to his lawyers. Despite his pleas and legal challenges, the Supreme Court denied Smith’s request for a stay.
Before his execution, Smith had a final meal and was visited by his wife, son, friends, and attorney. He and his minister, Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, made a statement expressing their hope that people would not turn a blind eye to the “suffocation of each other.”
Kenneth Eugene Smith was sentenced to death for his involvement in a 1988 murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the killing of Elizabeth Sennett. He and John Forrest Parker were paid $1,000 each to carry out the crime. Sennett’s husband later took his own life. Parker was executed via lethal injection in 2010.
The use of nitrogen gas as an execution method has sparked debates over its constitutionality and humaneness. Critics argue that the lack of research and the potential for pain and suffering make it an unacceptable method of punishment. The execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith has drawn attention to the ongoing discussions surrounding capital punishment in the United States.
