Prisoner is executed with nitrogen: ‘I’m not ready for that yet, brother’

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Kenneth Eugene Smith (58) knows what it feels like to spend the last minutes of his life strapped to a lounge chair. He knows what it feels like to eat his last meal and say goodbye to his loved ones. He is one of two people in the United States to have survived an execution.

Now Smith will be executed again on January 25 – via nitrogen. This method of execution has never been used before in the United States. His lawyers are still trying to prevent the execution. Smith himself told the Guardian: “I’m not ready for that yet. In no way. I’m just not ready for it yet, brother,” he says in a 15-minute phone conversation.

The body was covered in stab wounds

He is still traumatized and has nightmares from the last time he waited to die. On November 17, 2022, everything that could go wrong went wrong. Smith would die while tied to a bed in the US state of Alabama. His executioners tried to stick a needle in his arm and punctured his veins.

He even hung upside down for a moment to make it easier for the guards to find a vein. They tried for four hours until they finally gave up and took the shaking, sweating and hyperventilating man back to the cell. His body was covered in stab wounds.

In the meantime, he takes a cocktail of medications to cope with what he has experienced. Smith suffers from insomnia, anxiety and depression. He tells the Guardian that he has a recurring nightmare about returning to death row. “It keeps coming back.”

“I’m not going to help them”

As the second execution date approaches, things get worse for Smith. His physical and mental condition deteriorates. He feels sick most of the time and has to suppress his urge to gag almost every day.

Now he will be the first prisoner to be executed with nitrogen. Human rights experts from the United Nations and Amnesty International warn of a potentially gruesome death that could even resemble torture. Smith himself tries not to think about it and especially not to read too much about it.

On January 25, an airtight mask is pulled over his face – up to his eyes, nose, mouth and chin – and he is given nitrogen. Smith announces that he will not lift a finger to help the executioners. “I’m not going to grab the mask and fasten it, I’m not going to help them.”

One fear remains: “To throw up in this mask. Because if I do that, brother, no one will help me. I will drown in my own vomit and my wife will have to sit and watch.” (neo)

Source: Blick