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Anthony Boyd, 54, was executed by nitrogen gas in Alabama in 1993 for his role in the murder of Gregory Huguley, who was burned alive over a $200 cocaine debt.
He was pronounced dead at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility at 6:33 p.m. Thursday, officials confirmed.
Boyd received the death penalty after prosecutors said the fire was set after Huguley failed to pay for $200 worth of cocaine. The execution marks the state’s continued use of nitrogen gas, a method introduced last year.
Boyd used his last words to proclaim his innocence and to criticize criminal justice systemHe said, “I did not kill anyone. I did not take part in anyone’s murder.” He further said, “Until we change this system, there can be no justice.”
He said he wanted to express love for those who are still fighting, saying, “Let’s figure this out.” The execution appears to have taken longer than earlier nitrogen gas executions.
The state does not specify the exact time when the gas starts flowing. Around 5.57 pm. Boyd clenched his fists, raised his head slightly above his neck and began to tremble. Then he lifted his legs several inches off the gurney.
At about 6.01 pm he began a long series of deep breathing movements that lasted for at least 15 minutes before calming down. The curtain of the hanging chamber was closed at 6.27 pm. The Jail Commissioner said that after monitoring shows that the prisoner no longer has a heartbeat, the gas is flown for five minutes.
A prosecution witness at Boyd’s trial testified as part of a plea agreement and said that Boyd stuck tape over Huguley’s legs before another man poured gasoline on him and set him on fire. Defense attorneys said Huguley was at a party the night he was murdered and that the testimony in the plea agreement was unreliable.
A jury convicted Boyd of capital murder. murder during a kidnapping and recommended by a vote of 10-2 that he receive the death penalty. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement that the state “remains committed to its commitment to upholding the law and seeking justice for the victims and their families.”
Marshall said, “For more than 30 years, Boyd tried to delay justice through endless litigation, yet he never produced evidence that the jury was wrong.” Boyd had been on Alabama’s death row since 1995.
He was the latest president of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, an anti-death penalty group founded by people on death row. Alabama began using nitrogen gas in some executions last year.
This method uses a gas mask tied over the prisoner’s face to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing the person to die from lack of oxygen.
Nationally, this method has now been used in eight executions: seven times in Alabama and once in Louisiana. The state and Boyd’s spiritual advisor gave conflicting accounts of what happened in the execution chamber.
The Rev. Jeff Hood stood by Boyd’s side as he died. He was also the first in nitrogen gas execution. “This is the worst performance we’ve ever seen,” Hood said. “I think they are absolutely incompetent when it comes to carrying out these executions.”
He said Alabama promised nitrogen was a “quick, painless, easy way to execute and it’s not even close to that yet.” Hood said he believed Boyd planned to try to communicate through foot movements.
Hood said he believed “some level of consciousness, in my opinion, lasted at least 16 minutes.” Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said he believed Boyd’s shaking and other actions were involuntary.
He said that although the execution took longer than previous executions, it was “just a few minutes behind some other executions.” Boyd’s lawyers had asked a federal judge to halt the execution to allow greater scrutiny of the method.
A federal judge denied the request. He ruled that Boyd was unlikely to stand trial on claims that the method was unconstitutionally cruel. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon also rejected a request to stay Boyd’s execution and instead let him die by firing squad.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote a sharp dissent. Sotomayor, citing witness accounts of previous nitrogen gas executions, wrote that there is “mounting and irrefutable evidence” that the method is unconstitutional.
He wrote that “allowing the nitrogen hypoxia experiment to continue” fails to protect the dignity of the nation.
Alabama has stated that any shuddering or gasping displayed by prisoners during nitrogen gas executions are largely involuntary actions caused by lack of oxygen.