# Alabama uses nitrogen gas again in its second execution by the method
Alabama executed a man convicted of killing three people by nitrogen gas asphyxiation on 2024-09-26, making it the second execution in the United States carried out with that method, AP reported. The case renews attention on a punishment technique that remains controversial even as Alabama officials say it is working as intended.
The inmate, identified by AP as a delivery truck driver convicted of capital murder in the 1999 shootings, had been found guilty of killing two co-workers at one business and a third man at another. The state said the execution went according to protocol. Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm said the nitrogen gas flowed for 15 minutes and that the body movements observed were expected as oxygen was depleted.
That account matters because nitrogen hypoxia has already been the subject of intense scrutiny after Alabama’s first use of the method earlier in 2024. AP reported that Alabama officials and advocates had debated whether the previous execution caused unconstitutional pain after the inmate shook in seizure-like spasms and gasped for breath. In this second case, officials said similar movements occurred but were not as long or violent.
Governor Kay Ivey said in a statement that justice had been served for the victims’ families. Attorney General Steve Marshall also said the execution went as expected and without incident. Together, those statements show that Alabama’s leadership is presenting nitrogen hypoxia as a settled and humane alternative, even as critics continue to question it.
The AP account also notes that family members of the three victims did not witness the execution and did not issue a statement to be read to reporters. That detail underscores how executions can remain deeply mediated events even for those most directly affected. The legal case, the correctional procedure and the public statements all become part of the record, while the families’ own response may remain private.
The inmate had previously challenged the nitrogen gas protocol but later dropped his lawsuit after a settlement with the state. AP said he had also requested a sedative and that officials declined to say whether one was given. Those unresolved questions are part of why the method continues to draw attention from advocates and journalists.
The execution is also notable for its place in broader death-penalty trends. AP said the case was one of five executions in a single week, an unusually high number that ran against a yearslong decline in the use of capital punishment in the United States. That makes Alabama’s decision not just a state-level event but part of a national conversation about whether execution methods are changing as the death penalty itself fades.
