November 22nd 2024.
A man from Alabama, Carey Dale Grayson, was executed on Thursday evening at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in southern Alabama. He was convicted for the killing of Vickie DeBlieux, a 37-year-old hitchhiker, back in 1994. The execution, which used nitrogen gas, was the third of its kind in the nation. Grayson, who was 50 years old at the time of his execution, had cursed at the prison warden and made obscene gestures with his hands just before he was put to death.
Grayson was one of four teenagers involved in the killing of DeBlieux, who was on her way to her mother's home in Louisiana when she was attacked, beaten and thrown off a cliff. The other three teenagers were not sentenced to death as they were under 18 at the time of the crime. Grayson, on the other hand, was 19 at the time and received the death penalty.
Alabama started using nitrogen gas as a means of execution earlier this year. This method involves placing a gas mask over the face of the prisoner to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, ultimately causing death by depriving the body of oxygen. According to Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm, the execution went on for 15 minutes and an electrocardiogram showed that Grayson's heart had stopped beating approximately 10 minutes after the gas began to flow.
Similar to the two previous executions using nitrogen gas, Grayson experienced involuntary movements and took periodic gasping breaths before his death. The victim's daughter, Jodi Haley, spoke to reporters after the execution, expressing her grief of having her mother's life and future stolen from her. However, she also spoke out against the decision to execute Grayson, stating that "murdering inmates under the guise of justice" should not be allowed.
The execution took place at 6 pm, with Grayson strapped to a gurney and a blue-rimmed gas mask covering his face. When the warden asked if he had any final words, Grayson responded with an obscenity before the microphone was turned off. He then appeared to speak towards the witness room, where state officials were present, but his words could not be heard. He also raised both middle fingers at the start of the execution.
It is unclear when the gas began to flow, but Grayson's movements and struggles against the restraints on the gurney were visible. He even clenched his fist and tried to gesture again at one point. Finally, at 6:14 pm, his sheet-wrapped legs lifted off the gurney into the air, and he took a series of gasping breaths before appearing to stop breathing at 6:21 pm. The curtains to the viewing room were then closed at 6:27 pm, and Grayson was pronounced dead at 6:33 pm.
DeBlieux's mutilated body was found at the bottom of a bluff near Odenville, Alabama, on February 26, 1994. She was hitchhiking from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to her mother's home in West Monroe, Louisiana, when the four teenagers offered her a ride. According to prosecutors, they then took her to a wooded area, attacked and beat her, and later returned to mutilate her body. A medical examiner testified that her face was so fractured that she was identified by an earlier X-ray of her spine. The teens were identified as suspects after one of them showed a friend one of DeBlieux's severed fingers and boasted about the killing.
After the execution, DeBlieux's daughter, Jodi Haley, spoke to reporters and remembered her mother as a unique, spontaneous, wild, funny, and gorgeous woman. She also mentioned that Grayson had a difficult childhood, and society failed him, resulting in her family's suffering. She expressed her belief that "murdering inmates under the guise of justice" needs to stop and that no one should have the right to take away a person's life, possibilities, and days.
Governor Kay Ivey also released a statement after the execution, saying that she was praying for the victim's loved ones to find closure and healing. She also mentioned that DeBlieux's life was cut short because of Grayson and three other men, who showed no regard for human life and committed heinous and unimaginable crimes. She stated that the execution by nitrogen gas could not be compared to the death and dismemberment that DeBlieux had experienced.
Grayson's lawyers had argued against the use of nitrogen gas as a means of execution, claiming that it caused "conscious suffocation" and did not result in swift unconsciousness and death, as promised by the state in the first two nitrogen executions. However, Hamm stated that the initial movements exhibited by Grayson were just for show, and the other movements were expected involuntary movements, including the breathing at the end.
Alabama is the only state to have used nitrogen hypoxia to carry out a death sentence. In 2018, it became the third state, along with Oklahoma and Mississippi, to authorize the use of this method.
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