Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Alabama is moving forward with the execution of Anthony Boyd using nitrogenous gas, a new method that's been criticized as inhumane.
Gov. Kay Ivey announced in a statement sent to local media that Boyd, 53, will be executed in late October for his role in burning a man to death more than three decades ago. The state became the first state last year to execute people using nitrogen gas, a method that involves causing the condemned to die from a lack of oxygen.
Attorneys for Boyd have argued in court he could suffer painful complications because of his asthma and the method could leave a prisoner alive but with brain damage as well as other injuries, reported AL.com. While Boyd opted for the method in June 2018, his attorneys now say that the state's heavily redacted protocol leaves out information about the process, including what to do when a prisoner remains conscious, according to the news outlet.
In the last five executions in Alabama using nitrogen each prisoner "showed signs of conscious suffocation, terror, and pain," AL.com reported.
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