Alabama death row inmate Alan Eugene Miller was executed by nitrogen gas Thursday evening, as he shook, trembled, and pulled against restraints for two minutes in the agonizing final moments, amid his last words, "I didn't do anything to be here."
The shaking and trembling was reportedly followed by roughly six minutes of periodic gulping breaths before he went completely still, according to a reporter with the Associated Press who witnessed the execution.
Stifled by a mask covering his face, Miller gave his final words, "I didn't do anything to be here."
Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm confirmed the death at a news conference, stating Miller was fitted for a mask before being injected with nitrogen gas, which flowed through his system for 15 minutes.
"There's going to be involuntary body movements as the body is depleted of oxygen. That is nothing we did not expect," said Hamm, referring to the two minutes of shaking.
The commissioner also noted that the procedure had gone according to plan and protocol.
Miller's execution comes after a series of years-long issues regarding how he would be put to death.
Miller himself requested death by nitrogen hypoxia, but the state said it wasn't prepared to use the method.
In September 2022, there was an attempt to execute Miller by lethal injection; however, it was called off with state officials saying they could not access Miller's veins before the execution warrant expired.
The state then agreed not to execute Miller using any method other than nitrogen hypoxia.
Earlier this year, Alabama executed death row inmate Kenneth Smith by nitrogen hypoxia in what is believed to be the first execution by this method. He shook and writhed on the gurney for minutes before dying, revealed witnesses.
Miller then challenged the state's nitrogen hypoxia protocol in a federal lawsuit, alleging it could cause him undue suffering, thus violating his Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The suit was settled last month, and while the details remain confidential, State Attorney General Steve Marshall flaunted the settlement as proof Alabama's nitrogen gas execution method is constitutional.
"The resolution of this case confirms that Alabama's nitrogen hypoxia system is reliable and humane," Marshall said in August.
According to court documents, in 2000, Miller received a death sentence for the 1999 murders of Lee Holdbrooks, Scott Yancy, and Terry Lee Jarvis, three men he worked with, on the grounds that they were spreading false information about him.
"I feel that it has taken way too long to get here," Tara Barnes, Holdbrooks' widow, told CNNTuesday.
