Alabama inmate Kenneth Smith was executed for the first time in the world by nitrogen gas inhalation, a procedure that causes hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen in the tissues that, if prolonged, leads to death: What we know about the method and how it works and what happened during the execution.
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Inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, executed in Alabama in the first execution by the method of nitrogen gas inhalation
He died of suffocation, or more precisely Nitrogen hypoxia, inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, executed Thursday, January 25, 2024 in Alabama. It was the world's first execution using nitrogen inhalation, a procedure carried out with a face mask through which the gas could flow for about 15 minutes. The death of Smith – sentenced to the death penalty in 1996 for the murder of a woman on behalf of her husband in 1988 and already surviving an attempted execution by lethal injection in 2022 – occurred as a result of inhalation of a high concentration of nitrogen, which determines the determination Lack of oxygen in the body (hypoxia).
When nitrogen becomes toxic and how death from hypoxia occurs
Nitrogen hypoxia is the condition that occurs if there is a lack of oxygen in the tissue, Within minutes, important organs such as the heart, brain and liver are damaged. Histotoxic hypoxia is particularly true when the disease is due to the inability of the tissue to use oxygen, such as: in case of poisoning which was achieved by Smith's execution Inhalation of nitrogen gas (N2).
Gaseous nitrogen, which is known to make up about 78% of the air we breathe, is indeed dangerous an increase in concentration and the resulting reduction in the oxygen content, which is about 20% in the air. Therefore, if a larger proportion of it is present in the air – which is not perceived by smell, since it is an odorless gas – Nitrogen becomes toxic and causes hypoxia (a partial lack of oxygen) and then Anoxia (complete absence of oxygen).
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Prolonged lack of oxygen leads to “Immobility, unconsciousness, convulsions and death” according to the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. According to the panel, the first effects are observed at oxygen levels in inspired air below 19%, which are described as “not noticeable adverse events”, and at oxygen levels up to 16%, at which an increase in cardiac and cardiac arrest occurs Respiratory frequency as well as cognitive disturbances and reduced coordination are noted. Further reduction in oxygen levels leads to fatigue and emotional disturbances (levels below 14%), impairing breathing This leads to permanent heart damage, nausea and vomiting. At concentrations below 10%, inability to move occurs, Unconsciousness, convulsions and death.
How the execution took place and how long the process took
The method used in Alabama to execute Kenneth Smith differs from the procedure used in euthanasia in some cases in Europe. Instead of using a hood or the specially designed Sarco (the euthanasia device), Smith's execution used nitrogen with a face mask, according to a protocol developed by the state of Alabama, which has not previously been the case never experienced.
It was therefore the first execution using this type of procedure, which began at 7:53 p.m. in Alabama (3:53 a.m. in Italy). Smith, who was strapped to a stretcher, “appeared to be conscious for several minutes,” media witnesses said in a joint report. “For about the next two minutes he trembled and writhed. This was followed by several minutes of deep breathing on the stretcher.”
Afterwards, “his breathing slowed until it was no longer noticeableand, as Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm explained, “A doctor pronounced Smith dead at 8:25 p.m. CT.” When asked if the shaking and twitching was evidence that Smith was in pain, Hamm: “At first it seemed as if he was holding his breath as long as he could […]. And then information started circulating that he was struggling a little with his limitations, but there were some involuntary movements and some labored breathingSo it was all to be expected and falls under the side effects that we have seen or investigated with nitrogen hypoxia.” Agonal breathing is an involuntary movement that is observed in dying people.
The UN also disputes what risks the procedure entails
Only three states – Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi — have approved the use of nitrogen in the death penalty, but only Alabama has adopted a specific protocol. However, UN experts earlier this month disputed the method, voicing concerns and calling the procedure “an untested method of execution” that Smith “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or even torture“, which “can lead to a painful and humiliating death.”
The experts also found that executions “that cause severe pain or suffering beyond the harm associated with legal sanctions are likely to violate the Convention Against Torture, to which the United States is a party, and the principles for the protection of all persons in any form of incarceration.”
No one could say with certainty what would happen before Smith's execution. The different options have led to further concerns, including concerns that administering nitrogen through a mask is not secured securely enough could have caused seizures, or failing to ensure that there was a sufficient amount of gas to kill Smith but sufficient to cause complications or severe brain damage.
What happened in the Alabama execution chamber Thursday night? now sets a precedent, not only for the American state, which is one of the 27 where the death penalty is in force. But six of those states — Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee — have paused executions over the past decade. Even Alabama temporarily paused all executions in 2022 after a series of failed lethal injection attempts, including Smith's They resumed in July 2023. To date, over 2,300 people have ended up on death row in the United States.