Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was pronounced dead at 8:25 pm after breathing pure nitrogen gas through a face mask to cause oxygen deprivation.

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“Tonight, Alabama causes humanity to take a step backward,” he said in his final words.

“Humanity rose up….I am leaving with love, peace, and light…..I love you. Thank you for supporting me. I love all of you.”

This marks the first time a new execution method has been used in the US since the introduction of the lethal injection in 1982.

Smith was convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire in 2022, however, a lethal injection couldn’t be used after authorities couldn’t connect an IV line.

Nitrogen gas was decided after a last-minute legal battle in which Smith’s attorneys argued the state was trying to make him a test subject for the experimental execution method.

His legal team said the method could violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, however, federal courts rejected Smith’s request to block it.

The latest ruling came on Thursday night from the US Supreme Court.

“Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has selected him as its ‘guinea pig’ to test a method of execution never attempted before,” wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who along with two other justices dissented.

“The world is watching.”

Witnesses said Smith struggled to breathe as the gas flowed through his face mask.

He began writhing and thrashing for about two to four minutes before breathing heavily for another five.

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