Alabama executed a death row prisoner Thursday using nitrogen gas, becoming the first state in the U.S. to use the gas in an execution, despite concerns about the untested method.
Kenneth Smith, 58, died at 8:25 pm, after a slew of last-minute appeals to several courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, failed.
This is the second time Alabama has attempted to put Smith to death. In 2022, workers tried and failed to place the intravenous line necessary to kill him with lethal injection drugs. After he was strapped to the gurney for four hours, the execution was called off.
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