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Governor Kay Ivey has set a Nov. 21 execution date for Carey Dale Grayson, the nation’s third death sentence to use nitrogen hypoxia as the method.
Ivey announced that Grayson is scheduled for execution between midnight on Thursday, Nov. 21, and 6 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 22. Grayson, 49, will be executed by nitrogen hypoxia, a method that uses nitrogen gas administered via a gas mask, causing suffocation. This will be the third nitrogen hypoxia execution planned for this year and the fifth execution overall.
Gov. Kay Ivey set the execution date for Grayson after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled last week that it could take place. Grayson was one of four teenagers convicted in the killing of Vickie Deblieux in Jefferson County.
DeBlieux was kidnapped while hitchhiking. She accepted a ride from Grayson, Kenny Loggins, Trace Duncan, and Louis Mangione on Feb. 22, 1994.
Grayson, Loggins and Duncan were sentenced to death. Mangione was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Loggins and Duncan had their sentences changed to life in prison after the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says juveniles cannot be sentenced to death.
Duncan and Magione will be eligible for parole in 2029.
While lethal injection remains the state’s primary execution method, inmates can request to be put to death by nitrogen gas or the electric chair. After testing nitrogen gas as a method to execute Smith in January, the state began seeking execution dates for the dozens of inmates who requested nitrogen as their preferred execution method.
Grayson has an ongoing lawsuit to halt the use of this protocol based on the premise that it inflicts unconstitutional levels of pain. While he did opt to use nitrogen hypoxia as his preferred method, the controversy surrounding the state’s first execution using this method raised concerns.
In January, Alabama carried out the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas, resulting in Kenneth Smith’s death. A second execution using nitrogen hypoxia is scheduled for Sept. 26 for Alan Eugene Miller, who recently settled a similar lawsuit with the state concerning the execution protocol.
Despite the upcoming executions, controversy over Smith’s execution is still rampant. Smith appeared to shake for several minutes on the death chamber gurney before his death on Jan. 25, contradicting the state’s claim that nitrogen gas would ensure an effective and humane death.
