Alabama plans to execute Carey Dale Grayson, 50, on Thursday using nitrogen gas, marking only the third use of this controversial execution method in the United States. Grayson was convicted in the brutal 1994 murder of Vickie Deblieux, a 37-year-old hitchhiker traveling through Alabama to her mother’s home in Louisiana. The execution is scheduled to take place at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in southern Alabama.
A New Execution Method
Nitrogen gas execution, introduced by Alabama this year, is the first new execution method in the U.S. since lethal injection debuted in 1982. The process involves replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen through a gas mask, leading to death by oxygen deprivation.
While Alabama officials assert the method is constitutional, it has drawn criticism. Witnesses to the first two nitrogen gas executions reported unsettling scenes of inmates shaking for several minutes. Critics argue the method requires further study, especially if other states consider adopting it.
The 1994 Crime
Grayson was one of four teenagers convicted of Deblieux’s murder. On February 26, 1994, Deblieux was hitchhiking from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to West Monroe, Louisiana, when the group offered her a ride. Prosecutors revealed the teens lured her to a wooded area, where they brutally attacked and beat her before throwing her off a cliff. They later returned to the scene to mutilate her body.
A medical examiner testified that Deblieux’s injuries were so severe she had to be identified using an earlier X-ray of her spine. Her fingers had been severed, and one of the teens was identified after showing a friend a severed finger as a “trophy” and bragging about the murder.
A Controversial Execution and Method
This case highlights the debate over capital punishment methods in the U.S. While proponents argue nitrogen gas offers a more “humane” alternative to lethal injection, the disturbing reports from its initial uses raise ethical and procedural concerns.
Grayson’s execution adds to the growing scrutiny surrounding Alabama’s criminal justice system and its adoption of nitrogen gas, which may influence the national conversation on death penalty practices.