Nitrogen gas brought death to Alan Eugene Miller, an Alabama death row convict. Thursday evening, as he shook, trembled, and struggled against shackles for two minutes in the torturous closing moments, his last words were, “I didn’t do anything to be here.”
An cnn reporter who witnessed the execution said that after the shaking and trembling, he periodically gulped breaths for almost six minutes before becoming completely still.
Miller, stifled by a mask covering his face, said his final words, “I didn’t do anything to be here.”
Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm confirmed Miller’s death at a news conference, adding that he had a mask fitted before receiving a 15-minute nitrogen gas pump.
“As the body’s oxygen levels drop, involuntary physical motions will occur. “That is nothing we did not expect,” Hamm added, referring to the two-minute shaking.
The commissioner also stated that the procedure went as planned and according to protocol.
Years of debate over Miller’s execution led to his execution.
Miller demanded nitrogen hypoxia as his method of execution, but the state refused to comply.
State officials were unable to access Miller’s veins before the execution warrant expired, leading to the cancellation of a fatal injection attempt in September 2022.
The state then committed to not executing Miller using any method other than nitrogen hypoxia.
Alabama killed death row convict Kenneth Smith using nitrogen hypoxia earlier this year, in what is believed to be the first such execution. Witnesses said he shook and writhed on thegurney for several minutes before dying.
Miller subsequently filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s nitrogen hypoxia procedure, claiming that it could cause him undue suffering, breaching his Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment.
State Attorney General Steve Marshall hailed the settlement as proof that Alabama’s nitrogen gas execution method is constitutional, even though the specifics remain confidential.
“The resolution of this case confirms that Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia system is reliable and humane,” Marshall stated in August.
Court documents state that Miller received a death sentence in 2000 for the 1999 killings of Lee Holdbrooks, Scott Yancy, and Terry Lee Jarvis because they were spreading false information about him.
“I feel that it has taken way too long to get here,” Holdbrooks’ widow, Tara Barnes, told CNN on Tuesday.
