On Thursday, Gov. Kay Ivey officially declared the 30-hour window for the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) to execute Geoffrey Todd West, 49, using the highly criticized method of nitrogen hypoxia.
West was convicted of capital murder for the killing of Margaret Parrish Berry, who worked at the Chevron fuel station where she was killed. The murder charge was made capital because the West committed it during the course of a robbery.
Ivey announced on Thursday that West's execution time window would begin at midnight on September 25, 2025, and expire the following day. The execution will be carried out by nitrogen hypoxia.
According to court records, in the late hours of March 27, 1997, or early morning of the following day, West and his girlfriend drove to Harold's Chevron located at Noccalula Parkway in Etowah County, where West was formerly employed. West previously had expressed to others his intention to rob the Chevron and to "leave no witnesses," "kill the person up there."
West entered the store armed with a .45 caliber handgun and held Berry at gunpoint, before stealing $250.00 from a cookie can where the store’s money was kept. Medical evidence indicates that Berry was shot in the back of the head while lying prone on the floor behind the counter of the store.
An Etowah County jury convicted West of murder and voted 10-2 in favor of putting him to death. Etowah County Circuit Judge William Cardwell accepted the jury’s death and sentenced him to death row.
Barring any amnesty or appeals success, West will die by nitrogen hypoxia, a process that involves replacing breathed oxygen with nitrogen, causing the subject to fall asleep.
Alabama has only used the method five times.
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