Nitrogen Gas Execution Scheduled for Alabama Inmate in October
Alabama has scheduled an October execution using nitrogen gas for Anthony Boyd, 53. Boyd, convicted in the 1993 killing of Gregory Huguley, faces the execution after a federal lawsuit challenging the nitrogen hypoxia method as unconstitutionally cruel. The state began using nitrogen gas for executions last year, having carried out five so far. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey set the execution for October 23. Boyd's lawyers argue that previous executions with nitrogen caused visible signs of conscious suffocation, terror, and pain, suggesting alternatives like firing squad or medical aid-in-dying. The state claims nitrogen hypoxia is painless. Boyd is the chairman of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, an anti-death penalty group for death row inmates.