An inmate in Alabama, sentenced for the murder of a hitchhiker in 1994, is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, making him the third individual to die by nitrogen gas.
Carey Dale Grayson, aged 50, was one of four teenagers charged with the murder of Vickie Deblieux, a 37-year-old woman who was hitchhiking through Alabama on her way to Louisiana to visit her mother. The execution is set for 6 p.m. at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility, located in southern Alabama.
Alabama has recently opted to employ nitrogen gas for executing certain death row inmates, marking the first introduction of a new execution method in the U.S. since the advent of lethal injection in 1982. This technique entails fitting a respirator mask on the condemned individual to substitute the air they breathe with pure nitrogen, leading to death through asphyxiation.
The state asserts that this method complies with constitutional standards. However, some critics raise concerns, especially after witnessing the first two executions carried out with this method, during which the individuals reportedly trembled for several minutes, suggesting that it requires further examination, especially if other states consider adopting it.
The case centers on the horrific murder of Deblieux whose dismembered body was discovered at the foot of a cliff near Odenville, Alabama, on February 26, 1994. Prosecutors revealed that Deblieux, who was hitchhiking from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to her mother’s home in West Monroe, Louisiana, was picked up by four teenagers. They allegedly took her to a secluded area, assaulted her, and eventually threw her off a cliff before later returning to desecrate her remains.
An autopsy revealed the extent of the violence against Deblieux; her facial injuries were so severe that identification was made possible through an earlier spine X-ray. Additionally, her fingers had been cut off. Investigators identified the suspects after one of them showed off a severed finger to a friend while bragging about the crime.
Among the teenagers involved, Grayson is the only one who received a death sentence, as the others were younger than 18 at the time of the crime. Grayson was 19 years old when the crime occurred. Although two of the other teens were initially sentenced to death, their sentences were overturned following a Supreme Court ruling against executing minors. Another accomplice is serving a life sentence.
In the final appeals made on Grayson’s behalf, his attorneys focused on the need for more examination of the nitrogen method. They argued that it leads to a form of “conscious suffocation” and that previous executions did not result in the quick unconsciousness and death the state had advertised. They requested a stay of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court to allow time to evaluate the constitutionality of this method.
Grayson’s attorneys stated, “Given this is the first new execution method used in the United States since lethal injection was first used in 1982, it is appropriate for this Court to reach the issues surrounding this novel method.”
On the other hand, prosecutors from the Alabama attorney general’s office urged the justices to allow the execution to proceed, arguing that a lower court deemed Grayson’s claims to be speculative. They pointed out that Alabama’s “nitrogen hypoxia protocol has been successfully employed twice, each resulting in death within a matter of minutes.”