Alabama
Alan Eugene Miller’s final words before Alabama nitrogen gas execution
Alabama executed a man using nitrogen gas for the second time on Thursday.
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:38 p.m. local time at a south Alabama prison, The Associated Press reported.
He was convicted of killing three men—Lee Holdbrooks, Christopher Scott Yancy and Terry Jarvis—in workplace shootings in 1999.
“I didn’t do anything to be in here,” Miller said in his final words, the AP reported. His words were at times muffled by the blue-rimmed gas mask that covered his face from forehead to chin.
Miller asked his family and friends to “take care” of someone, but it was not clear whose name he said.
Alabama had tried to execute Miller via lethal injection in 2022, but the state called it off after being unable to connect an IV line. He initially challenged the nitrogen gas protocol but dropped his lawsuit in August after reaching a settlement with the state. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
He was one of five inmates executed over the past week, including Emmanuel Littlejohn who was also put to death on Thursday in Oklahoma. Their deaths brings the U.S. to 1,600 executions since the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, despite support for the death penalty declining nationwide over the past two decades.
The nitrogen gas method used to put Miller to death involves placing a respirator gas mask over the inmate’s face so that they breathe pure nitrogen gas and are deprived of oxygen and die.
Dave Martin/AP
Alabama first used the method to put Kenneth Smith to death in January. The method has been described as inhumane by some human rights groups.
On Thursday, Miller shook and trembled on the gurney for about two minutes, with his body at times pulling against the restraints, the AP reported, followed by about six minutes of periodic gulping breaths before he became still.
In a news conference after the execution, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said the movements were anticipated.
“That was nothing we did not expect,” Hamm said, explaining the nitrogen gas flowed for 15 minutes. “Everything went according to plan and according to our protocol.”
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the execution “went as expected.”
“Although the methods have changed over the years, it remains the judgment of the State of Alabama that some crimes are so horrific as to warrant the ultimate punishment. In Alabama, we will not deny justice to the victims of heinous murders,” Marshall said in a statement.
“Tonight, despite misinformation campaigns by political activists, out-of-state lawyers, and biased media, the State proved once again that nitrogen hypoxia is both humane and effective. Miller’s execution went as expected and without incident.”
But witnesses contradicted the state’s version of events.
“I was a witness for Alabama’s execution of Alan Miller by nitrogen gas tonight,” Lauren Gill, a writer for Bolts magazine, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Again, it did not go as state officials promised. Miller visibly struggled for roughly two minutes, shaking and pulling at his restraints. He then spent the next 5-6 min intermittently gasping for air.”
Marshall’s description of Smith’s execution in January as “textbook” also differed from witness accounts, with advocates saying he had exhibited clear signs of pain and suffering.
One witness described how Smith began “thrashing against the straps” as the gas flowed and his head and body violently jerked back and forth for several minutes.
Update 9/27/24, 3:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Enjoy two nights of free dance at Stars on the Riverfront
Alabama Dance Theatre will present Stars on the Riverfront on June 20 and 21, at 7:30 p.m. each night at Riverwalk Amphitheater in Montgomery.
In Alabama’s coastal landscape, two Alabama bridges quietly stand among the longest in the United States.
A new World Atlas ranking of the 11 longest bridges in the United States is a reminder that not all crossings are so forgettable. These are the spans that stretch the idea of a “quick drive” into something else entirely.
As World Atlas notes, the country’s roughly 617,000 bridges are mostly routine. The ones on this list “swallow the horizon,” turning open water into a roadway that can take ten or fifteen minutes to cross.
Louisiana dominates the ranking, but Alabama also makes its presence known with two entries: the Jubilee Parkway and the General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge.
Jubilee Parkway: Alabama’s 7.5-mile bridge ranks No. 7 among longest in US
Ranked at No. 7 on World Atlas’ list, the Jubilee Parkway carries Interstate 10 across Mobile Bay as a pair of parallel viaduct bridges stretching 7.5 miles between Mobile and Spanish Fort/Daphne. Opened in 1978, the four-lane crossing is often called the “Bayway.”
The World Atlas says the bridge takes its name from Mobile Bay’s “jubilee” phenomenon, when marine life is pushed into shallow water, making it unusually easy to catch.
General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge: 6.08-mile span ranks No. 10 in U.S.
The General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge ranks No. 10 on the World Atlas list, stretching 6.08 miles across the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta northeast of Mobile as part of Interstate 65.
World Atlas says the bridge is better known locally as the “Dolly Parton Bridge,” a nickname inspired by the paired arch design that, locals say, resembles a distinctive silhouette when viewed from certain angles.
Completed in 1980, it features twin parallel weathering-steel arches and concrete viaducts carrying four lanes over the wide, marshy delta.
Longest bridges in the U.S. Full World Atlas ranking
World Atlas ranks these as the longest bridges in the U.S.:
- Lake Pontchartrain Causeway: 23.83 miles
- Manchac Swamp Bridge: 22.8 miles
- Louisiana Airborne Memorial Bridge: 18.2 miles
- Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel: 17.6 miles
- Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge: 11 miles
- Louisiana Highway 1 Bridge: 8.26 miles
- Jubilee Parkway: 7.5 miles
- San Mateo-Hayward Bridge: 7 miles
- Seven Mile Bridge: 6.79 miles
- General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge: 6.08 miles
- Norfolk Southern Lake Pontchartrain Bridge: 5.8 miles
Jennifer Lindahl is a Breaking and Trending Reporter in Alabama for USA TODAY’s Deep South Connect Team. Connect with her on X @jenn_lindahl and email at jlindahl@usatodayco.com.
The iconic wooden roller coaster at Alabama Adventure & Splash Adventure is officially back in action, along with some seasonal deals. This Father’s Day, dads can get into the park for free to ride the restored coaster, Rampage.
It’s not the only attraction returning; this Halloween, Alabama Adventure is bringing back not one but two haunted houses for the first time since the late 2000s.
If you can’t wait until then, the Bessemer park will be open late on Saturdays and end with a pop of color. Adventure Summer Nights will have the park open until 9:30 p.m. once a week with a fireworks show to round off the night.
And as an apology to their loyal visitors, people who bought a daily ticket before June 10 are welcome to come back and try their new and improved attractions for free. If you’re a season pass holder, don’t feel left out—pass holder discounts are doubled for the month of July.
Governor Kay Ivey on Thursday set an execution date for death row inmate Jeremy Williams, who was convicted in the 2021 kidnapping, rape and murder of 5-year-old Kamarie Holland in Phenix City.
Williams is scheduled to be executed by the state’s three-drug lethal injection during a 30-hour window beginning at 12 a.m. August 13 and ending at 6 a.m. August 14. The execution date comes after the Alabama Supreme Court granted a request from Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office on June 16, authorizing the state to carry out the sentence.
In a letter to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Greg Lovelace, Ivey said the Supreme Court’s June 16 order serves as the official death warrant for Williams.
“By law, I am required to specify the time frame for carrying out the sentence of death,” Ivey said. “Accordingly, I hereby order that Jeremy Lee Williams’s sentence of death be carried out within a time frame beginning on August 13, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. and ending on August 14, 2026, at 6:00 a.m.”
Ivey noted that she retains the authority to commute the sentence before the execution takes place.
Williams, 34, was convicted in April 2024 on four counts of capital murder stemming from Holland’s death. Prosecutors charged him with capital murder during a kidnapping, capital murder during a rape, capital murder during first-degree sodomy and capital murder of a child younger than 14.
Authorities said Holland disappeared from her family’s home in Phenix City on December 13, 2021. Her body was discovered two days later inside an abandoned house less than a mile away. An autopsy determined that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
In addition to the death sentence, Williams received several other prison terms. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for human trafficking and for knowingly producing recordings depicting the sexual abuse of a child. He also received another life sentence for a separate sexual abuse conviction, along with a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to commit human trafficking and a 10-year sentence for abuse of a corpse.
Unlike most death row inmates, Williams sought to speed up the execution process. During a hearing, he told the court that he accepted responsibility for his actions and wanted the sentence carried out.
In 2025, Williams dismissed his attorneys and informed the court that he wished to waive any remaining appeals and proceed with his execution. Russell County Circuit Court Judge David Johnson determined that Williams was competent to make that decision and allowed him to forgo further legal challenges.
Under Alabama law, capital convictions automatically receive appellate review. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals subsequently affirmed Williams’ conviction and death sentence in March.
After that review concluded, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office petitioned the Alabama Supreme Court in May to authorize an execution date. The court granted the request earlier this week, clearing the way for Ivey to schedule the execution.
If carried out as scheduled, Williams’ execution would occur nearly five years after Holland’s death and a little more than two years after he was sentenced to death.
Williams’ execution would be Alabama’s first by lethal injection since April 2025. The state’s three most recent executions were carried out using nitrogen hypoxia, which Alabama began using in 2024.
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