Demetrius Frazier was executed Thursday in Alabama for the 1991 rape and murder of Pauline Brown, marking the fourth U.S. execution using nitrogen gas, the Associated Press reports. Frazier apologized to Brown’s family in his final words and criticized Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for not intervening.
Frazier had been serving a life sentence in Michigan for another murder before being transferred to Alabama in 2011. His execution, involving nitrogen suffocation, took 18 minutes. Witnesses reported involuntary movements, though officials said Frazier lost consciousness quickly. Critics have called the method “experimental” and urged further legal scrutiny.
Brown’s family members attended but did not comment publicly.
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