Alan Eugene Miller, an Alabama death row inmate awaiting death by nitrogen hypoxia, is asking a federal court to stop the execution due to the state’s last execution by gas.
“The State has executed only one person, Mr. Kenneth Smith, using this protocol,” the filing states. “The execution was a disaster. Multiple eyewitnesses reported a horrific scene where Mr. Smith writhed on the gurney and foamed at the mouth.
Miller claims the state has shrouded its protocol in secrecy and is not examining potential deficiencies.
“And instead of acknowledging their mistakes, the State now seeks to execute Mr. Miller using the exact same method,” the filing continued.
Miller is scheduled for execution between midnight on September 26 and midnight on September 27.
The state previously attempted to execute Miller by lethal injection, but the execution was called off after officials were unable to find a vein. Death row inmates have been known to dehydrate themselves by not eating or drinking leading up to the execution to botch the process.
Miller, a delivery truck driver, shot and killed three co-workers at two businesses in Shelby County on Aug. 5, 1999. He believed the victims were spreading rumors about him.
Christopher Scott Yancy and Lee Holdbrooks were killed at Ferguson Enterprises, and Terry Lee Jarvis was killed at Post Airgas.
Governor Kay Ivey has previously stated the victims did not get to choose how they died.
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