Demetrius Terrence Frazier was put to death by the state of Alabama Thursday for killing Pauline Brown in 1991 in Birmingham, reports AL.com's Ivana Hrynkiw.
He was executed using the nitrogen hypoxia method.
There's still debate over nitrogen and whether it's more humane than other execution methods, and inmates have shown different levels of gasping and thrashing -- something state officials attribute to the inmates' efforts to hold their breath as the nitrogen is administered. Here's the description of Thursday's execution from Ivana:
"About 6:11 p.m., Frazier started waving his hands in circles towards his body. About a minute later, his hands stopped moving.
"At approximately 6:12 p.m. Frazier clenched his face, and his nostrils flared, while his hands quivered. He appeared to say something, which was inaudible to the three witness rooms. His legs slightly lifted up off the gurney and he gasped.
"Then, his head rolled to the right side. Frazier exhibited sporadic gasping and shallow breathing until about 6:20 p.m.
"The curtains closed at 6:29 p.m., and his time of death declared seven minutes later at 6:36 p.m."
Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said he believed Frazier lost consciousness when his hands and wrists stopped moving and the following breaths were involuntary movements.
In 1991 Frazier entered Brown's home while she slept, woke her up, raped her and shot her in the back of her head. He later said he shot her because he was tired of hearing her beg for her life.
Not long after that he was back in his native Michigan, serving a life sentence over sex crimes and the murder of a 14-year-old girl.
Meanwhile, he was sentenced to die in Alabama, so Michigan sent him down here in 2011 to await execution. His lawyers asked officials in Michigan, which does not have a death penalty, to help him return there to serve out his life in prison.
The Detroit News reported that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said yesterday afternoon that it was out of her hands.
