Alabama death row inmate Carey Dale Grayson on Thursday became the third inmate in the US to be executed by nitrogen gas.
Grayson, 49, was killed by the torture, beating and mutilation of Vickie Lynn Deblieux on February 21, 1994. Deblieux, 37, was bicycling from southeast Tennessee to visit her mother in West Monroe, Louisiana, when Grayson, then 19, , and three other youths picked him up and shortly after killed him, court records say. He was pronounced dead at 6:33 p.m., according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.
The 22nd execution in the United States this year and the sixth in Alabama, which put three of the men to death using nitrogen gas, a controversial method described by some witnesses as torture.
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement that “killing by nitrogen hypoxia is not the same as the death and removal of Ms. DeBlieux.”
“I pray for his loved ones to continue to find closure and recovery,” he said.
Here’s what you need to know about Grayson’s murder.
Carey Dale Grayson, convicted of murder on March 8, 1996
What was Carey Dale Grayson’s last meal?
Grayson’s last meal was soft tacos, beef burritos, tostadas, chips, guacamole, and a Mountain Dew Blast.
What crime was Carey Dale Grayson convicted of?
On February 21, 1994, Deblieux was dropped off by a friend in Chattanooga near Interstate 59, where he began to ride southwest. On one occasion, Grayson − who was 19 years old − and three other teenagers took Deblieux along the Jefferson County interstate in Alabama, about 15 miles northeast of Birmingham.
The youths stopped at a wooded area on Bald Mountain, and proceeded to beat, stomp and kick Deblieux. Evidence showed Grayson and another youth stood at his throat to kill him.
His body was thrown off a cliff but the youths returned later and dismembered his body, slashing his body 180 times, removing part of a lung and cutting off his fingers, court records show.
The youth became suspects in the murder when one of the boys showed one of Deblieux’s fingerprints to a friend.
In addition to Grayson, the attorney general charged Kenny Loggins, Trace Duncan and Louis Mangione in the murder. Duncan, Loggins and Mangione had their death sentences commuted and were given life in prison without the possibility of parole. This decision came in 2005 after the United States Supreme Court banned the execution of people under the age of 18 when they committed crimes.
More about Cary Dale Grayson’s execution method
Grayson was killed by nitrogen hypoxia, which was used for the first time in the US when Alabama killed Kenneth Eugene Smith in January. Smith’s execution in this manner drew international condemnation and media attention, including opposition from the Vatican.
Smith was visibly writhing and writhing on the gurney for about four minutes during the execution. State and prison officials had said before the execution that Smith should lose consciousness “within seconds,” and die within minutes if the gas began to flow through the mask Smith was wearing.
Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm called Smith’s execution “bookish,” in a news conference about half an hour after Smith died.
The September killing of Alan Eugene Miller was the second by nitrogen gas in Alabama.
With the nitrogen hypoxia method, the victim breathes pure nitrogen through a mask that removes oxygen from their system. Supporters say this is a quick and painless procedure. Opponents say it is tantamount to torture.
Who was Carey Dale Grayson?
Grayson had bipolar disorder and his mother died when he was three years old after battling mental illness, according to court records.
A psychologist testified that Grayson was in a “manic state” at the time of the killing but that he “knew the difference between right and wrong and was able to appreciate the nature and nature or wrongness of his actions,” court records say.
In a police interview, Grayson described the youth as being extremely violent during the crime. When asked why they killed Deblieux, court records say, he told police he didn’t know and that “it wasn’t his problem.”
This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Carey Dale Grayson was killed in the third type of nitrogen gas method.