Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, has his second date with Alabama’s executioner this week.
The first time, the state was unable to execute Smith after failing to access his veins for a lethal injection before his death warrant expired. This time, the state will attempt a method never used on humans: Nitrogen hypoxia.
This time, Smith’s death warrant runs for 30 hours from midnight Thursday until 6 a.m. Friday. He chose nitrogen hypoxia as his preferred method, an untested alternate execution method that the state approved in 2018 when it was struggling to acquire the drugs used for lethal injections.
Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia plan has drawn national and international scorn and outrage. Monday morning, a delegation of faith leaders gathered on the Capitol steps in Montgomery to protest the execution and call for its delay.
“I’m here for every execution, but this time our voices are louder because of the brutality of this method,” said the Rev. Lynn Hopkins of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Montgomery. “Death is never an option, and vengeance is never justice.”