In the United States, the execution by nitrogen gas has become a topic of debate for the third time.

The city of Alabama in the USA became the third person in the world to be executed using the nitrogen gas hypoxia method. 50-year-old Carey Dale Grayson was executed late Thursday night at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama, using the controversial method that involves placing a gas mask on the inmate's face and replacing the air with nitrogen.

It was reported that Grayson cursed at the prison warden that same evening, and when the warden asked him for his last words, he responded obscenely, leading the guard to turn off the microphone.

CONTROVERSIAL PRACTICE

According to a report in the Daily Star, despite claims that the method used for execution is constitutional, critics, including Grayson's lawyers, condemned the state for ignoring the method's "flaws." His lawyers recalled the witness statements and autopsy results related to the execution of Kenneth Smith, who was the first person executed in the U.S. using nitrogen gas, scheduled for January 2024. However, Grayson was convicted of murdering 37-year-old Vickie Deblieux in Jefferson County, Colorado.

WHY WAS HE EXECUTED?

In 1994, Grayson and three other young men attacked a woman after offering her a ride while she was hitchhiking. It was noted that Grayson attacked the woman and threw her off a cliff, and the death penalty was given only to Grayson because he was the oldest of the youths.

Despite witnesses describing the death of Smith, the first person executed with nitrogen, earlier this year as "torture," Grayson was executed that night using the nitrogen gas hypoxia method. The autopsy revealed disturbing signs, including lungs filled with blood in Smith's body.

EXPLANATION FROM AN ANESTHESIOLOGIST

Dr. Brian McAlary, an anesthesiologist working with Grayson's legal team, stated in his explanation that the symptoms in question could indicate negative pressure pulmonary edema, a condition that occurs when someone tries to breathe against a blocked airway, causing fluid to be pulled from the blood vessels.

McAlary also suggested that such a condition could result from actions like choking or suffocation with a plastic bag. According to the Daily Star, he emphasized that the risk of panic increases if sedatives are not administered before exposure to nitrogen gas.