Alabama carried out its first execution of the year on Thursday evening by putting Demetrius Frazier to death via nitrogen hypoxia for the 1991 rape and murder of a Birmingham woman.
Frazier exhausted his appeals leading up to Thursday's execution, and Gov. Kay Ivey announced earlier in the day that she would not exercise her clemency powers to halt it.
Frazier was the fourth man in the U.S. to be executed using nitrogen hypoxia, a method that involves replacing breathed oxygen with nitrogen until the individual passes away.
Frazier, 52, was convicted in 1996 of capital murder for the 1991 killing of Pauline Brown. The jury, by a vote of 10-2, recommended the death penalty.
Frazier, a Michigan native, was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m. According to media witnesses, his last words expressed remorse and criticism of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for not stepping in to stop his death.
SEE: Mother of man condemned to die in Alabama seeks help from Michigan Gov. Whitmer
"First of all, I want to apologize to the family and friends of Pauline Brown. What happened to Pauline Brown should have never happened," Frazier reportedly said in his final words. He finished by saying, "I love everybody on death row. Detroit Strong."
Ivey applauded the execution, saying, "Justice was carried out for Pauline Brown and her loved ones."
"In Alabama, we enforce the law," Ivey said. "You don't come to our state and mess with our citizens and get away with it. Rapists and murderers are not welcome on our streets, and tonight, justice was carried out for Pauline Brown and her loved ones. I pray for her family that all these years later, they can continue healing and have assurance that Demetrius Frazier cannot harm anyone else."
Attorney General Steve Marshall also applauded the execution while criticizing the legal antics of Frazier and his advocates.
"For more than three decades, the family of Pauline Brown has waited for justice," Marshall said. "Tonight, that wait is over. Demetrius Frazier was a monster who brutally took the lives of two innocent women and left behind a trail of unspeakable violence. For the crimes he committed in Alabama, he was fairly and appropriately punished. While nothing can erase the agony he inflicted, I pray that this brings closure to those who loved Pauline and have endured the painfully slow wheels of justice for so many years.
"Frazier and supporting activists made last-ditch efforts to transfer him back to Michigan to serve his four life sentences there and avoid his death sentence in Alabama. These antics were unsuccessful. The Alabama Department of Corrections has now carried out four executions by nitrogen hypoxia, which has proven to be both constitutional and effective."
According to court records, Frazier was arrested on an unrelated charge in Detroit, Michigan, in March 1992. While in the custody of the Detroit Police Department, Frazier reportedly confessed to the murder of a woman in Birmingham. A Birmingham detective then traveled to Detroit, where Frazier reportedly again admitted to the murder on tape.
According to Frazier's reported statements, on the night of the murder, he saw a light on in Brown's ground-floor apartment at the Fountain Heights Apartment complex. After finding under $10 in the home, he entered Brown's room, where she slept. He woke her up with a .22 caliber pistol and demanded more money. After receiving $80 from Brown's purse, things turned for the worse.
"Frazier then forced [Brown] at gunpoint to have sexual intercourse with him," Court records state. "While he was raping her, Ms. Brown begged Frazier not to kill her. When Ms. Brown refused to stop begging for her life, Frazier put the pistol to the back of her head and fired the gun. Fearing that someone had heard the gunshot, Frazier left the apartment. He went across the street to see if anyone had heard the shot. Satisfied that no one had heard the shot, he returned to the apartment. He searched the apartment for more money and confirmed that Ms. Brown was dead. He then went to the kitchen, ate two bananas, and left the apartment. He threw the pistol in a ditch."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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