Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has announced plans to start using nitrogen gas for executions. This method, known as nitrogen hypoxia, causes death by replacing oxygen with pure nitrogen, leading to suffocation. Alabama has already used this execution method, with four death row inmates put to death this way.
“We will carry out these sentences and justice will be served,” Landry said in a statement.
Recently, Alabama executed 52-year-old Demetrius Frazier, convicted of the 1991 rape and murder of Pauline Brown. His execution took place at a South Alabama prison at 6:36 p.m. This was Alabama’s first execution of the year and the third in the U.S. in 2025. Earlier in the week, Texas carried out a lethal injection execution, and South Carolina conducted another.
Frazier’s Final Words and Appeals
Before his execution, Frazier apologized to Brown’s family and friends, saying her murder should never have happened. He also expressed support for fellow death row inmates, saying, “I love everybody on death row. Detroit Strong.”
Frazier criticized Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for not intervening in his case. His family and anti-death penalty advocates had urged Whitmer to bring him back to Michigan to serve a life sentence instead of facing execution in Alabama.
Michigan does not have the death penalty, but Frazier was transferred to Alabama years ago. Whitmer stated that her predecessor, Rick Snyder, agreed to the transfer, and the decision was no longer in Michigan’s hands.
Details of the Crime
Prosecutors said that on November 27, 1991, Frazier broke into Pauline Brown’s apartment in Birmingham, Alabama, while she was asleep. He demanded money, then raped her at gunpoint before shooting her in the head. Later, he returned to eat and search for more money.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey issued a statement after the execution, saying, “In Alabama, we enforce the law. Rapists and murderers will not walk free in our state. Justice was served for Pauline Brown and her loved ones.”
Frazier had also been convicted in Michigan for the 1992 murder of 14-year-old Crystal Kendrick. He received a life sentence for that crime before being transferred to Alabama’s death row in 2011.
The Execution Process
Alabama has now executed four people using nitrogen gas. The method involves placing a gas mask on the inmate’s face and replacing oxygen with pure nitrogen, causing suffocation. Witnesses reported that Frazier initially moved his hands, grimaced, and gasped before his body became still.
The nitrogen gas flowed for 18 minutes, and officials confirmed that Frazier’s heartbeat stopped 13 minutes after the gas was introduced. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm stated that Frazier likely lost consciousness quickly and that any later movements were involuntary.
A federal judge had declined to stop the execution last week.
