**Alabama Executes Inmate Using Nitrogen Gas for the First Time**

In a historic and controversial decision, Alabama has executed Carey Dale Grayson, becoming the first state to use nitrogen gas as an execution method. Grayson, 50, was convicted of the 1994 murder of Vickie Deblieux, a 37-year-old hitchhiker, and was put to death at the William C. Holman Correction Facility on Thursday.

Grayson's execution marks only the third instance of nitrogen hypoxia being used for capital punishment in the United States. Though his lawyers challenged the constitutionality of this new method, the U.S. Supreme Court opted not to intervene, allowing the execution to proceed. Nitrogen hypoxia involves replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, leading to death by oxygen deprivation. While state attorneys defended its use, claiming it has been used in two prior cases without issue, Grayson’s legal team argued it leads to a form of "conscious suffocation," rather than a swift and painless death.

Jodi Haley, the daughter of Vickie Deblieux, expressed her complex feelings following the execution. Haley noted the abuse Grayson suffered in his youth and criticized the act of execution itself, stating, "Murdering inmates under the guise of justice needs to stop... No one should have the right to take a person's possibilities, days, and life." Haley was 12 years old when her mother was murdered.

Deblieux’s murder was a brutal and shocking crime. She was hitchhiking from Tennessee to Louisiana in 1994 when she encountered Grayson and three other teenagers in Alabama. The group took her to a secluded area, where they mercilessly beat her, stood on her throat, and ultimately threw her body off a cliff. They returned later to mutilate her remains further. Her body, discovered by rock climbers, had over 180 stab and cut wounds, and every facial bone was fractured.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall commented on the execution, stating, "My prayer for Vickie's family is that they can find solace in the state of Alabama finally serving justice for their heart-breaking loss. And my hope is that one day it will not take three decades to provide justice for other victims of violent crimes."

Grayson was the only member of the teenage group to receive the death sentence, as he was the only one over the age of 18 at the time of the crime. In his final moments, witnesses reported that Grayson made obscene gestures and appeared to suffer as the nitrogen gas began to take effect.

This use of nitrogen hypoxia by Alabama introduces yet another layer of debate in the ongoing discourse over capital punishment methods in the United States.