54-Year-Old Anthony Boyd Executed by Nitrogen Gas for 1993 Murder of Gregory Huguley Who Was Burned Alive Over $200 Cocaine Debt

In a case that has reignited fierce debate over execution methods and the ethics of capital punishment, Alabama on Thursday carried out the execution of 54-year-old Anthony Boyd using nitrogen gas. Boyd, convicted in 1995 for his role in the brutal 1993 murder of Gregory Huguley, was pronounced dead at 6:33 p.m. at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility.

His execution marks yet another use of the highly controversial nitrogen hypoxia method — a process touted by the state as humane but widely condemned by rights advocates and medical experts. Boyd used his final words not to express remorse, but to declare his innocence and to call for sweeping changes to the criminal justice system, declaring, “There can be no justice until we change this system.”

A Grisly Crime and a Contentious Conviction

The events that led to Boyd’s execution date back more than three decades. In July 1993, Gregory Huguley, a 26-year-old man from Talladega County, Alabama, was abducted, bound, doused with gasoline, and burned alive. Prosecutors alleged that Boyd and several others carried out the killing because Huguley had failed to pay $200 owed for cocaine. During the trial, the prosecution’s key witness — a participant in the crime — testified under a plea agreement, asserting that Boyd had taped Huguley’s feet together before another accomplice set him on fire. The testimony proved crucial in securing Boyd’s conviction.

Boyd consistently denied his involvement in the murder, maintaining that he had been at a party on the night of the killing and that the witness’s plea deal rendered his testimony unreliable. Despite these assertions, a jury found him guilty of capital murder during a kidnapping, recommending a death sentence by a 10-2 vote. In 1995, the court accepted that recommendation, and Boyd was sent to Alabama’s death row.

Over the following decades, Boyd’s defense mounted numerous appeals, arguing that the prosecution’s case relied heavily on questionable testimony and that the state had failed to meet the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. His attorneys also challenged the fairness of Alabama’s judicial process, citing the lack of unanimous jury verdicts required for death sentences at the time — a practice later outlawed in many jurisdictions. Nevertheless, all appeals were denied, and Boyd remained incarcerated for nearly 30 years as the legal system moved slowly but steadily toward his execution.

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Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall defended the state’s handling of the case following the execution, stating, “For more than 30 years, Boyd sought to delay justice through endless litigation, yet he never once presented evidence that the jury was wrong.” Marshall emphasized that the state “remains steadfast in its commitment to uphold the law and deliver justice for victims and their families.” But Boyd’s final moments — and the method used to end his life — have left many questioning whether justice was truly served, or whether the state merely perpetuated a cycle of suffering under the guise of retribution.

A Controversial Death: Inside the Execution Chamber

The execution of Anthony Boyd marked one of the most scrutinized uses of nitrogen hypoxia to date. The method, which replaces breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causes the inmate to die from lack of oxygen. It is one of the latest alternatives developed by states struggling to obtain lethal injection drugs amid pharmaceutical boycotts. Alabama began employing nitrogen gas executions last year, insisting that it offers a “quick, painless, and humane” death. However, eyewitness accounts from Boyd’s execution — and from others before it — suggest otherwise.

According to officials, the execution process began shortly before 6 p.m. Witnesses reported that Boyd clenched his fists, raised his head, and began shaking as the gas was administered. He lifted his legs off the gurney several inches before falling still. Around 6:01 p.m., he began what observers described as a prolonged series of heaving breaths that lasted at least 15 minutes. The curtain to the execution chamber was closed at 6:27 p.m., and Boyd was pronounced dead six minutes later.

Alabama man's CHILLING last words before he was executed — on death row for 30 years

'I didn't kill anybody' — Anthony Boyd

'There can be no justice until we change this system'

Agree? pic.twitter.com/3K9RB9jGh8

— RT (@RT_com) October 24, 2025

The state has refused to disclose the precise time at which the gas began flowing, citing security reasons. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm later said the gas continues to flow for five minutes after the inmate’s heartbeat ceases, describing Boyd’s visible distress as “involuntary movements caused by oxygen deprivation.” Hamm acknowledged that the process took “a few minutes longer than previous ones” but denied any procedural errors.

In stark contrast, the Rev. Jeff Hood — Boyd’s spiritual adviser and a vocal critic of nitrogen hypoxia — offered a harrowing account of what he witnessed. Standing beside Boyd as he died, Hood stated, “This is the worst one yet. I think they are absolutely incompetent when it comes to carrying out these executions.” Hood, who was also present during Alabama’s first nitrogen gas execution earlier this year, said the state’s promises of a quick and painless death have proven hollow. “They said nitrogen was supposed to be easy, painless — but this was nothing close to that,” he told reporters. Hood added that he believed Boyd retained “some level of consciousness” for as long as 16 minutes, describing the ordeal as “deeply disturbing.”

Boyd’s final words further fueled controversy. Strapped to the gurney and surrounded by witnesses, he proclaimed, “I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t participate in killing anybody. There can be no justice until we change this system.” Before losing consciousness, he reportedly expressed love for those “still fighting” and ended his statement with a simple, defiant phrase: “Let’s get it.” His death has once again placed the nitrogen hypoxia method under national scrutiny, with advocates, attorneys, and medical experts questioning its ethics, transparency, and constitutionality.

The National Debate Over Nitrogen Executions

The use of nitrogen gas as an execution method remains one of the most divisive issues in American criminal justice. First authorized in 2018, the method has now been used eight times nationwide — seven in Alabama and once in Louisiana. State officials describe it as a scientifically sound process that minimizes suffering, but evidence from witnesses and experts paints a vastly different picture. The prolonged spasms, heaving, and visible distress described during these executions have led many to conclude that the process violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Boyd’s final appeal on Thursday afternoon, allowing the execution to proceed. Boyd had asked to die by firing squad instead, arguing that nitrogen hypoxia was untested and potentially torturous. In a sharply worded dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor — joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — condemned the Court’s decision to let the execution move forward. Sotomayor wrote that there is “mounting and unbroken evidence” that nitrogen hypoxia is “unconstitutional,” citing previous executions in which inmates appeared to suffer prolonged distress. “Allowing the nitrogen hypoxia experiment to continue,” she wrote, “fails to protect the dignity of the nation.”

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Human rights organizations have echoed those concerns. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Amnesty International, and several anti-death penalty groups have called for an immediate moratorium on nitrogen executions. They argue that Alabama’s continued use of the method, despite visible signs of suffering, amounts to a violation of both domestic and international human rights standards. “The state is experimenting on human beings,” said a representative of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, a group founded by men on Alabama’s death row — an organization Boyd himself once chaired. “They’re learning as they go, and the price of that learning is human life.”

Alabama officials, however, have remained unmoved. Commissioner Hamm defended the process, insisting that what witnesses describe as suffering is merely a biological response to oxygen deprivation. “We believe the process worked as intended,” he said. The Attorney General’s Office similarly rejected claims of cruelty, maintaining that Boyd’s death was lawful, justified, and necessary to deliver justice for Huguley’s family.

Yet questions persist about whether “justice” in such cases can truly coexist with experimental execution methods. Critics note that nitrogen hypoxia has not been subject to the kind of scientific or ethical review that would be required in any other medical or biological procedure. The secrecy surrounding execution protocols, the refusal to disclose timing details, and the lack of medical oversight all contribute to growing distrust of state narratives.

For many observers, Boyd’s execution symbolizes a deeper conflict within the American justice system — one that pits the desire for retribution against the moral imperative to ensure human dignity. His final plea for systemic change, delivered moments before his death, underscores that conflict. “There can be no justice until we change this system,” he said — a statement that, regardless of guilt or innocence, resonates with ongoing debates about racial disparities, prosecutorial power, and the integrity of capital punishment in the United States.

Even among those who support the death penalty, concerns about the method’s reliability are growing. Legal experts warn that if nitrogen hypoxia continues to show signs of prolonged suffering, states using it could face constitutional challenges that eventually reach the Supreme Court. Justice Sotomayor’s dissent signals that at least some justices are already prepared to confront that question head-on.

For now, Alabama remains at the center of that storm. As the only state to repeatedly use nitrogen gas in executions, it has become a testing ground for what officials call “innovation” and what critics deem “experimentation.” The state maintains that the process is efficient, lawful, and transparent. Yet each new execution, including Boyd’s, has raised the same haunting images: clenched fists, convulsing bodies, and long minutes of visible struggle.

Anthony Boyd’s death has thus become more than the conclusion of a 30-year-old case; it is part of a broader reckoning over the meaning of justice in a system that still kills in the name of it. Whether future courts — or public opinion — will allow nitrogen executions to continue remains uncertain. What is certain is that Boyd’s final words, spoken through a gas mask in a room filled with witnesses, will echo far beyond the prison walls of Holman Correctional Facility.