This is the third inmate.
Carey Dale Grayson, convicted for the 1994 murder of hitchhiker Vickie Deblieux, was executed in Alabama on Thursday through the state’s nitrogen hypoxia method, the third execution using this technique this year. Nitrogen hypoxia, which involves inhaling pure nitrogen gas, has raised concerns about the potential for prolonged suffering and whether it violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Despite these concerns, Grayson’s execution proceeded after a federal appeals court rejected last-minute appeals from his legal team. Grayson was sentenced to death at the age of 19 for his role in Deblieux’s murder, with his co-defendants receiving life sentences after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing juveniles was unconstitutional.
Grayson’s execution came after protests and petitions urging Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to halt the process. However, she declined to intervene, stating that Grayson’s crimes against Deblieux and her family had deprived them of years of holidays. Following the execution, Ivey issued a statement emphasizing the heinous nature of Grayson’s crimes and justifying the decision to carry out the death sentence. Grayson, in his final statement, expressed remorse for his actions, saying he had been sorry for 30 years, but also criticized the prison system.
His defense team had argued that nitrogen hypoxia could cause unnecessary suffering, citing previous executions in Alabama using the method, such as those of Kenneth Smith and Alan Miller earlier this year. Both of these executions involved visible distress, with the condemned inmates appearing to struggle while being administered nitrogen. Grayson’s lawyers warned that the technique could lead to suffocation and prolonged terror, which they argued could amount to unconstitutional punishment. However, Alabama officials defended the method, claiming that nitrogen hypoxia was not the same as suffocation and would not cause undue pain.
Grayson’s execution is part of Alabama’s ongoing experiment with nitrogen hypoxia as a potential alternative to lethal injection, following issues with the latter method in previous executions. Alabama had paused executions in 2022 to reevaluate its lethal injection protocols and later introduced nitrogen hypoxia as an additional option for death row inmates. Grayson had chosen nitrogen hypoxia as his preferred method before the state finalized its execution protocol. His lawyers had requested a review of the method after previous botched executions, but the state moved forward with Grayson’s execution as planned.
The 1994 crime for which Grayson was convicted involved him and three other teenagers, who, under the influence of alcohol and drugs, abducted and killed 37-year-old Vickie Deblieux. They beat her, threw her off a cliff, and mutilated her body. Grayson, who was 19 at the time, was sentenced to death, while his younger co-defendants received life sentences. Grayson’s execution marks the sixth in Alabama this year, continuing the state’s use of controversial execution methods amid ongoing legal and ethical debates over the death penalty.
