The US state of Alabama has executed a man by using nitrogen gas, who was convicted of to 1993 murder.

However, critics have slammed this method, terming it a “cruel and unusual form of punishment.”

Suspect Anthony Boyd, a 54-year-old man, was executed on October 23, 2025, in the evening.

Anthony set a man on fire, killing him for allegedly owing him Ksh 25,840 drug debt.

During the hearing of his case, Boyd stood his ground, firmly saying he did not kill anybody.

”I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t participate in killing anybody. There can be no justice until we change this system,” he said.

After this latest type of death, Alabama marks the 70th time they had used nitrogen gas on inmates since January 2024.

US Death Penalty Information Center said the method was used instead of intravenous lethal injection.

They added that the injection had obtained a cocktail of toxic drugs recently, making it complicated to administer.

Suspect Asks for Firing Squad

Boyd appealed to various courts to be killed by firing squad rather than Nitrogen gas, but his request was turned down.

On some occasions, nitrogen can take the longest time for an execution.

Boyd also told the US Supreme Court how the use of nitrogen gas contradicts the 18th Amendment of the US Constitution that limits “cruel and unusual punishments,” but unfortunately, the request was turned down.

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However, the court’s majority decision was rejected by the three liberal justices of the Supreme Court, including Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Sotomayor highlighted how the use of nitrogen gas is torture compared to other methods used.

“Boyd asks for the barest form of mercy: to die by firing squad, which would kill him in seconds,” she wrote. “The Constitution would grant him that grace. My colleagues do not. This Court thus turns its back on Boyd and on the Eighth Amendment’s guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment.”

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Sarah Clifton, the reporter who witnessed the execution process, said it took nearly 40 minutes until Boyd was pronounced dead.

“The state turned on nitrogen gas at 5:57 pm local time, but Boyd kept breathing and spasmed for more than 20 minutes until he lay still at 6:18 pm,” Clifton said.

“The gas was turned off by the state at 6:27 pm, and Boyd was pronounced dead at 6:33 pm,” she added.

He was sentenced to death in 1995 and has been in prison for 30 years.

There was no physical evidence, and therefore, the prosecution’s case relied on witness testimony.

Alabama county also heard the legal case and said “the highest per capita rate of death sentences in the nation.”

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Court gravel for illustration purposes. PHOTO/FILE