Atmore, Alabama – kenneth Eugene Boyd was executed Thursday by the state of Alabama using nitrogen gas for his role in the 1993 murder of Joan Gardner during a $200 drug deal gone wrong, marking the eighth execution nationally using this controversial method. Boyd, 52, was pronounced dead at 7:44 p.m. CST at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility after an execution that lasted over 20 minutes, prompting renewed scrutiny of the practice.
Alabama began utilizing nitrogen gas for executions last year as an alternative method of capital punishment. The process involves securing a gas mask over the inmate’s face and replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, leading to death through oxygen deprivation. Nationally, seven previous executions have been carried out with nitrogen gas in Alabama, and one in Louisiana.
Conflicting accounts emerged regarding Boyd’s final moments. The Rev. Jeff Hood, Boyd’s spiritual advisor who also witnessed the state’s first nitrogen gas execution, described the event as “the worst one yet,” stating Alabama’s claims of a “swift, painless, easy form of execution” were demonstrably false. Hood believed Boyd exhibited signs of consciousness for at least 16 minutes, attempting to communicate through leg movements.
Alabama Corrections Commissioner John hamm countered that Boyd’s movements were involuntary. He acknowledged the execution took longer than previous ones but characterized the difference as “just a few minutes.”
Boyd’s legal team had sought a last-minute stay of execution, arguing the method requires further examination. A federal judge declined the request,ruling Boyd was unlikely to prove the method unconstitutionally cruel.the U.S. Supreme Court also denied a stay, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor issuing a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, citing ”mounting and unbroken evidence” that the method is unconstitutional and diminishes the nation’s dignity.
The case stems from the July 1993 shooting death of Joan Gardner in Huntsville, Alabama. Boyd was convicted of capital murder after authorities determined he killed Gardner while attempting to steal money to purchase drugs.
