Carey Dale Grayson, an inmate on death row in Alabama, is scheduled to be killed by nitrogen gas on Thursday – a method that some of the witnesses claim is a form of torture.
If Grayson’s execution is carried out, he will be the third inmate in the United States to be executed by nitrogen gas hypoxia.
The other two such executions also were in Alabama earlier this year. Grayson would also become the 22nd inmate to be executed in the United States this year.
Carey Dale Grayson, now 49, was one of four teenagers convicted of capital murder in the torture, bludgeoning and mutilation of Vickie Lynn Deblieux on Feb. 21, 1994. Deblieux, 37, was en route to visit her mother in West Monroe, Louisiana from southeastern Tennessee when the four teens picked her up on a highway near Trussville and then murdered her, according to the documents.
Here are the things that you need to know about the execution. The teens went to a wooded area on Bald Mountain and then the teens began beating, stomaching and kicking Deblieux.
Prosecution witnesses painted the picture that Grayson and another teenager stepped on the throat of the deceased to suffocate her.
Her body was later thrown off a cliff but the teens came back and savagely attacked her dead body, slashing her at least 180 times, stabbing her in the chest and ripping out a portion of her lung and cutting off her fingers, records reveal.
The teens became suspects in the murder when one of the boys displayed one of Deblieux’s fingers to a friend.
Other than Grayson, a jury convicted Kenny Loggins, Trace Duncan and Louis Mangione for the murder.
Duncan, Loggins and Mangione had their convictions of murder in the first degree and their death sentences overturned and each was sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole.
Where And When Is The Execution?
The execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, an hour north of Mobile. The prison will release Grayson’s final meal and final statement after the execution.
How Is Carey Dale Grayson Being Executed?
Grayson will be killed by nitrogen hypoxia, which was used for the first time in the United States when Alabama executed Kenneth Eugene Smith in January.
Smith’s death by the method received national and international condemnation and media coverage including a protest from the Vatican.
Smith seemed to struggle and jerk on the gurney for at least four minutes during the process.
Officials of the state and prison systems had stated before the execution that Smith would pass out within seconds, and would be dead within minutes after the flow of the gas through the full-face mask which Smith wore.
Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm described the process as “textbook” in a news conference that was held approximately half an hour after Smith died.
In nitrogen hypoxia method, the condemned breathes through a mask which purges oxygen in his or her body system.
Its advocates say that it is nearly as fast and as painless as the method that has been described above.
Critics say it is experimental and is actually torture. The second Alabama inmate executed with nitrogen hypoxia as the method was Alan Eugene Miller on September 26.
What Could Prevent Carey Dale Grayson From Being Put To Death?
Over the years Grayson has filed many appeals and has been defeated. His last hope for a reprieve remains with the U.S. Supreme Court and Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, who responded to a question from the Montgomery Advertiser about the timing of Grayson’s execution the week before Thanksgiving by saying: >Did Carey Grayson give any consideration to the fact that he robbed Vicki DeBlieux and her family of now 30 Thanksgivings?
Smith’s attorneys have been arguing that the nitrogen gas method could be considered cruel and inhuman punishment inasmuch as it was not guaranteed to be painless to Smith.
Who Is Carey Dale Grayson?
Grayson has bipolar disorder and his mother died when he was 3 after suffering from mental illness, as stated in the records of the court.
A forensic psychologist stated that Grayson was “in a manic state” during the murder but that “he did know the difference between right and wrong and was able to appreciate the nature and quality or wrongfulness of his acts, according to the court documents.
During the police interrogation, Grayson said that the young people were the most involved in the worst acts during the crime.
In response to questions about why he killed Deblieux, court records state that he said he did not know and that “it was not his business.”
