nitrogenexecutions.org · A comprehensive archive
Every nitrogen execution the United States has ever carried out — from Kenneth Smith in January 2024 to Anthony Boyd in October 2025 — and the federal ruling that stopped the ninth. Drawn from the record. Founded on Suffocation by Design by Jeff Hood.
The Chronology · 2015 – 2026
Eight nitrogen executions. One permanent injunction. Every event in the record — click any point on the rail to open it.
Jan 25, 2024
Holman Correctional Facility, Alabama
The first person in world history put to death by nitrogen hypoxia. Witnesses describe several minutes of thrashing, shaking, and gasping on the gurney. Judge Jill Pryor's dissent in Smith v. Hamm becomes a moral and constitutional reckoning.
The Record, at a glance
These numbers are drawn from public records, court filings, and eyewitness testimony. Every figure links back to the underlying documents.
Nitrogen Executions
8
Jan 2024 – Oct 2025
States That Have Used It
2
Alabama · Louisiana
States Authorizing
5
AL · OK · MS · LA · AR
Permanent Injunctions
1
First in U.S. history — Lee (2026)
Federal Court Findings
7+
Method-of-execution rulings
Eyewitness Accounts
40+
Documented on the record
The Map
Five states have authorized nitrogen executions. Two have carried them out. Others are studying, drafting, or waiting. Click a highlighted state to open its record.
Open the full state directory →The Film
A short film drawn from the archive — the eyewitness record of what nitrogen hypoxia looks like when a state carries it out.
Eyewitness
“He shook the whole gurney. He heaved. He gasped. It went on for minutes. The state called it textbook. It was not.”
Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood
Spiritual advisor · in the chamber, Kenneth Smith
“Grayson rocked his head, shook and pulled against the gurney restraints.”
Kim Chandler
Media witness · Associated Press
“…a series of deep, agonized breaths that lasted for more than 15 minutes, each break shuddering Boyd's restrained head and neck.”
Lee Hedgepeth
Media witness · Tread
The Comparison
Every U.S. execution method, ranked by how long the condemned person remains visibly conscious and in distress after the procedure begins. Nitrogen is not faster. Nitrogen is not cleaner. Nitrogen is the slowest death the modern American death chamber has produced.
Duration of visible conscious distress · eyewitness & historical record
See sources & full comparison →Rapid loss of consciousness from cardiac disruption.
Cervical fracture; unconsciousness within seconds when done correctly.
Multiple current cycles; unconsciousness typically within seconds.
Highly variable; botched cases have run 30+ minutes.
Historic method; visible convulsions timed at 8–18 minutes.
Anthony Boyd, Alabama, October 2025 — the longest visible distress of any U.S. nitrogen execution on record.
Range across the 8 U.S. nitrogen executions: ~6 min (Alan Miller, Sept 2024) → 21 min (Anthony Boyd, Oct 2025).
Sources on the Compare page — eyewitness accounts of all eight U.S. nitrogen executions (2024–2025), the Death Penalty Information Center, and historical studies of electrocution, gas-chamber, and lethal-injection executions.
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Total nitrogen executions
8
Last execution
Oct 23, 2025
Permanent injunctions
1
Next scheduled
None — Alabama abandoned
States still authorized
LA · OK · MS · AR
The Book
Suffocation by Design by Jeff Hood is the spine of this archive. Every chapter is expanded here into a network of executions, people, filings, and testimony — updated as the record grows.