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Alabama Executes Carey Grayson in Third US Nitrogen Gas Execution for 1994 Murder of Vickie Deblieux

Nov 22, 2024, 01:43 AM

Alabama carried out its third execution using nitrogen gas, putting to death 50-year-old Carey Dale Grayson on Thursday evening at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Grayson was convicted for the 1994 murder of 37-year-old hitchhiker Vickie Deblieux. He was one of four teenagers involved in the killing while Deblieux was traveling through Alabama on her way to her mother's home in Louisiana. Earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to stop the execution. Critics, including Amnesty International, have condemned the use of nitrogen hypoxia, arguing that it can cause severe suffering and should be urgently prohibited. This execution marks the third use of nitrogen gas in the United States, a method introduced by Alabama this year and the first new execution method since lethal injection in 1982. Prior to his execution, Grayson cursed at the prison warden and made obscene gestures. This was Alabama's sixth execution in 2024.