In Alabama, a man named James Osgood was executed on Thursday evening for a 2010 crime involving rape and murder. He chose to forgo his appeals, claiming he deserved death for his actions. Osgood, 55, was pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m. after receiving a three-drug injection in a south Alabama prison. The crime he was convicted of was the murder of Tracy Lynn Brown, following a sexual assault.
During a brief moment before his execution began, Osgood addressed his victim, saying, “I haven’t said her name since that day. Tracy, I apologize.” Witnesses saw him lying strapped to a gurney in a tan prison uniform, where he directed his last words toward family members present in the witness room. Osgood became unconscious after 6:09 p.m., with noticeable changes in his breathing, until he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Brown lost her life in October 2010. It was discovered after her employer raised concerns when she failed to arrive at work. Prosecutors recounted how Osgood, along with his girlfriend, who was also Brown’s cousin, planned the crime after discussing fantasies involving abduction and torture. They forced Brown at gunpoint to comply with their demands before Osgood ultimately killed her. The accomplice received a life sentence, while jurors required just 40 minutes to reach a unanimous decision for Osgood’s conviction and recommendation for the death penalty in 2014.
After an appeals court invalidated his initial death sentence, Osgood asked for the death penalty again during resentencing in 2018, expressing a desire to spare the victims’ families further anguish. As his execution transpired, members of Brown’s family witnessed the event but declined to speak publicly. Alabama’s Governor, Kay Ivey, referred to the crime as “premeditated, gruesome, and disturbing” in her statement and expressed hope for the family’s sense of closure. State Attorney General Steve Marshall extended his sympathy and prayers to the Brown family, emphasizing the senselessness of the crime.
Osgood, when freeing himself from appeals, professed beliefs tied to an eye-for-an-eye perspective, stating his life should end for taking another’s. Statistics from the Death Penalty Information Center show that a significant portion of executed individuals who requested their execution had backgrounds infused with mental health struggles or substance issues.
Osgood’s legal representative from the past decade, Alison Mollman, illustrated him as a person who possessed remorse for his serious mistakes yet avoided excuses for his actions. Despite acknowledgment of his wrongdoings, she highlighted his sincerity and accountability.
This execution marks the second occurrence in Alabama during the current year and the fourteenth nationwide. In February, Alabama executed Demetrius Frazier using nitrogen gas for a crime dating back to 1991, signifying the state’s move toward this method beginning in 2024. This method involves replacing breathable air with nitrogen gas, eventually leading to death due to oxygen deprivation. While lethal injection was previously prevalent across the United States, difficulties in drug acquisition have pushed states like Alabama to contemplate alternatives, allowing inmates to choose from injections, the electric chair, or nitrogen gas. Osgood opted for lethal injection, although it required multiple attempts to establish the necessary IV lines to facilitate his execution.