Ala. Inmate Executed by Nitrogen Gas For Raping, Killing Woman in 1991

Mar. 15, 2025

Demetrius Frazier.Photo:Alabama Department of Corrections via AP

Alabama Department of Corrections via AP

Before the execution, Frazier, 52, spoke his final words: “First of all, I want to apologize to the friends and family of Pauline Brown, what happened to her should never have happened,” Frazier said, according to theAssociated Press.

Frazier also expressed an apology to the Black community and addressed Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after he petitioned her to return him to the state to serve his life sentence for separate crimes. He ended his statement with, “Detroit strong. I love everyone on death row. Let’s go,” the outlet reported.

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In 1993, Frazier was convicted in the separate rape of Jacqueline Gresham and murder of 14-year-old Crystal Kendrick, both of which had occurred in Detroit, Mich., according to the Alabama attorney general’s office. As a result, he received multiple life sentences.

As for Brown’s killing, Frazier was tried in Alabama in 1995. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. and Frazier was transferred back to Alabama to serve out his death sentence, per the AG’s release.

“Demetrius Frazier was a monster who brutally took the lives of two innocent woman and left behind a trail of unspeakable violence,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in the release.

Alabama was the first state to utilize the method known as nitrogen hypoxia for executions, according to the AP. The procedure involves forcing pure nitrogen into the inmate’s lungs while cutting off the oxygen supply.

Kenneth Eugene Smithwas the first inmate to be executed using the method in January 2024, and four others, including Frazier, have followed.

In his statement Thursday, Marshall said the method “has been proven to be both constitutional and effective.”

source: people.com