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Alabama executes man by nitrogen gas for the first time in the U.S.
Left: A photo provided by Alabama Department of Corrections shows inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convicted in a 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher’s wife. Right: Alabama’s lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., seen in 2002.
Alabama Department of Corrections via AP and AP
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Alabama Department of Corrections via AP and AP
Left: A photo provided by Alabama Department of Corrections shows inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convicted in a 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher’s wife. Right: Alabama’s lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., seen in 2002.
Alabama Department of Corrections via AP and AP
Alabama executed a death row prisoner Thursday using nitrogen gas, becoming the first state in the U.S. to use the gas in an execution, despite concerns about the untested method.
Kenneth Smith, 58, died at 8:25 pm Central Time, after a slew of last minute appeals to several courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, failed.
The execution started at 7:53pm, according to John Hamm, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections. At approximately 7:55pm, Kenneth Smith gave his last words.
“Tonight, Alabama caused humanity to take a step backwards,” Smith said. “I’m leaving with love, peace and light. Thank you for supporting me, love all of you.”
Hamm said nitrogen flowed for around 15 minutes. The gas was administered through a mask, while two execution workers, in addition to Smith’s spiritual adviser, Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, looked on. Media witnesses said Smith appeared conscious for about ten minutes. He shook and writhed for about two minutes on the gurney, followed by about five minutes of heavy breathing.
This is the second time Alabama has attempted to put Smith to death. In 2022, workers tried and failed to place the intravenous line necessary to kill him with lethal injection drugs. After he was strapped to the gurney for four hours, the execution was called off.
Concerns about nitrogen gas as a method of execution have swirled around this case for several months. The Alabama attorney general’s office has said that nitrogen hypoxia is “the most painless and humane method of execution known to man.” Still, although researchers have used the gas to kill animals, in 2020 the American Veterinary Medical Association deemed it “unacceptable” as a euthanization method for all mammals except pigs, since it could be “distressing.”
“Everybody is telling me I’m going to suffer,” Smith told NPR in December. “I’m absolutely terrified.”
After the first execution failed, Smith’s lawyers requested Alabama not attempt another by lethal injection, and requested nitrogen gas, the secondary method approved in the state. But before Smith’s second execution date was scheduled, his lawyers argued against the gas, alleging that using an untested method in a second attempt to execute him would violate his constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Both state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, denied the appeals.
Kenneth Smith (left) stands with his spiritual adviser Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood.
Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood
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Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood
Kenneth Smith (left) stands with his spiritual adviser Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood.
Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood
Nitrogen gas is so novel an execution method that the risk to workers in the death chamber is unclear. In November, the Alabama Department of Corrections asked Smith’s spiritual adviser, Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, to sign a form acknowledging that although there would be oxygen gas monitors in the room, he would be at risk of harm by exposure to the gas. Hood was required to stay three feet away from Smith, the form explained, since nitrogen could leak out of Smith’s mask or pool above his head.
After Hood sued the Department of Corrections for violating his religious liberties by preventing him from ministering to Smith, he said the department agreed to allow him to interact with Smith before workers started administering the nitrogen gas. Officials also promised to develop an emergency plan to protect him and the other workers in the chamber, he said. Officials also promised to develop an emergency plan to protect him and the other workers in the chamber, he said. NPR asked if the agency had completed the backup plan, but Corrections did not respond.
While on a tour of the room the day before, Hood noticed two unplugged oxygen monitors and said the warden dodged questions about the safety protocol.
“What I saw did nothing to minimize my fears,” Hood told NPR. “It only increased my fears of the incompetence.”
Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood said the Department of Corrections agreed to allow him to interact with Smith before workers started administering the nitrogen gas.
Gabrielle Caplan for NPR
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Gabrielle Caplan for NPR
Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood said the Department of Corrections agreed to allow him to interact with Smith before workers started administering the nitrogen gas.
Gabrielle Caplan for NPR
Alabama has repeatedly struggled to carry out executions without mistakes. In July 2022, the execution team took hours to set the intravenous lines for prisoner Joe Nathan James. James was ultimately executed, but his family has sued the state for what is believed to be one of the longest executions in U.S. history. Just two months after that, the state was forced to halt the execution of prisoner Alan Miller for the same reason. In November, workers struggled again to find a vein to inject Smith.
“So I’m wired up on my left arm and then they start working on my right arm, and they were just sticking me over and over, going in the same hole like a freaking sewing machine,” Smith told NPR. “I was absolutely alone in a room full of people, and not one of them tried to help me at all – and I was crying out for help.”
The Alabama Department of Corrections has been secretive about that execution and the one carried out in 2024. NPR requested information regarding purchases the state made in preparation for the nitrogen gas execution. The request was denied. The information would be “detrimental to public interest,” the agency said. NPR also asked if a doctor would be present in the death chamber, whether the execution workers administering the nitrogen gas had medical training, if any of those workers would be the same as the ones who were involved with Smith’s first execution, and how many witnesses would be present at the execution.
The Department of Corrections did not respond to any of the inquiries. Officials published a basic protocol explaining how the state planned to carry out the execution by nitrogen gas. Much of the information was redacted.
Alli Sullivan holds a sign protesting the use of nitrogen gas in executions on the road leading to Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala. She is on the communications team at Death Penalty Action, an organization that seeks to stop executions and end the death penalty.
Gabrielle Caplan for NPR
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Gabrielle Caplan for NPR
Alli Sullivan holds a sign protesting the use of nitrogen gas in executions on the road leading to Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala. She is on the communications team at Death Penalty Action, an organization that seeks to stop executions and end the death penalty.
Gabrielle Caplan for NPR
Smith said he developed post-traumatic stress disorder after the first failed execution attempt.
“Nothing prepares you for it,” he said. “There is a mental trauma there that I never realized until I went through that.”
After the repeated failures, in December of 2022, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey paused executions in the state and ordered a “top to bottom review” of the state’s execution protocol. Following that internal review, and a rule change allowing the state to set its own time frame for executions, they resumed three months later with the death of James Barber.
From murder to execution: 35 years of waiting
Smith was one of three men convicted for his involvement in the 1988 for the murder-for-hire killing of Elizabeth Sennett, who was found with multiple stab wounds at her home in Colbert County, Ala.
“She was a likable person, a loving person,” said her son, Chuck Sennett. “Confidante, easy to talk to. Had a lot of friends. Never met a stranger. Just run of the mill, Southern wife and mom.”
Chuck (left) and Mike Sennett are sons of Elizabeth Sennett, who was killed by Kenneth Smith in 1988.
Chiara Eisner/NPR
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Chiara Eisner/NPR
Chuck (left) and Mike Sennett are sons of Elizabeth Sennett, who was killed by Kenneth Smith in 1988.
Chiara Eisner/NPR
His father, Rev. Charles Sennett, was a Christian pastor who was involved in hiring the men who killed their mother. When authorities started to investigate their father’s link to the hitmen who carried out his wife’s murder, each of whom was paid $1,000 in compensation, Sennett killed himself.
“He took the easy road, committed suicide,” said Chuck Sennett. “So it’s like a slap in the face.”
Chuck and his brother, Mike, said they would have wanted a quick death penalty for their father, too. They believe the decades they’ve had to wait for Smith to be executed is too long.
“Alabama is the worst judicial system in the union,” said Chuck Sennett. “35 years later, we’re still dealing with it. Why?”
Mike Sennett holds a photo of his mother, Elizabeth. Kenneth Smith was sentenced to death in 1996 for his role in the murder-for-hire killing.
Chiara Eisner/NPR
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Chiara Eisner/NPR
Mike Sennett holds a photo of his mother, Elizabeth. Kenneth Smith was sentenced to death in 1996 for his role in the murder-for-hire killing.
Chiara Eisner/NPR
Following Smith’s execution, Mike Sennett told reporters, “Nothing that happened here today is going to bring Mom back… We’re glad this day is over.”
Smith’s path to the death chamber has not been straightforward. After he was brought to trial in 1989, 10 of 12 jury members voted that he should receive the death penalty. But that conviction was later reversed when it was revealed that prosecutors had unconstitutionally struck Black jurors from the pool. Black people have historically been less supportive of capital punishment than white Americans.
When Smith was retried in 1996, all but one juror voted against the death penalty and recommended he spend life in prison instead. But the trial judge, Pride Tompkins, overruled the jury and imposed a death sentence. The Alabama statute that allowed judges to override jury recommendations has since been replaced; Smith would have been sentenced to life in prison had 11 of 12 jurors had voted as they did during his second trial.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
new video loaded: Singer D4vd Is Charged With Murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez
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transcript
Singer D4vd Is Charged With Murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez
The musician D4vd was charged with murder on Monday, seven months after the police said that the body of a teenage girl, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, had been found in the trunk of his Tesla. D4vd, whose real name is David Burke, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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“On April 23, 2025, as has been alleged by the complaint, Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time, went to Mr. Burke’s house in the Hollywood Hills. She was never heard from again.” “These charges include the most serious charges that a D.A.‘s office can bring. That is first-degree murder with special circumstances. The special circumstances being lying in wait, committing this crime for financial gain or murdering a witness in an investigation. These special circumstances carry with it, along with the first-degree murder charge, a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty.” “We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Revis Hernandez nor was he the cause of her death.”
By Jackeline Luna
April 20, 2026
In this photo illustration, The Onion website is displayed on a computer screen, showing a satirical story titled Here’s Why I Decided To Buy ‘InfoWars’, on November 14, 2024 in Pasadena, California.
Mario Tama/Getty Images North America
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Mario Tama/Getty Images North America
The satirical website, The Onion, has a new deal to take over Infowars, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s far-right media company. If approved by a Texas judge, the deal would take away his Infowars microphone, and allow The Onion to resume its plans to turn the website into a parody of itself.
Families of those killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, who sued Jones for defamation, want the sale to happen. They’re still waiting to collect on the nearly $1.3 billion judgement they won against Jones for spreading lies that they faked the deaths of their children in order to boost support for gun control. That prompted Jones’s followers to harass and threaten the families for years.
The families are also eager to take away Jones’s platform for spewing such conspiracy theories. The deal not only would divorce Jones from his Infowars brand, but it would turn the platform against him by allowing The Onion to mock his kind of conspiracy mongering and advocate for gun control.
The families “took on Alex Jones to stop him from inflicting the same harm on others” by using “his corrupt business platform to torment and harass them for profit,” said Chris Mattei, one of the attorneys for the families. “When Infowars finally goes dark, the machinery of lies that Jones built will become a force for social good, thanks to the families’ courage and The Onion’s vision, persistence and stewardship.”
A mourner visits the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial on the 10th anniversary of the school shooting on Dec.14, 2022 in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were shot and killed, including 20 first graders and 6 educators, in one of the deadliest elementary school shootings in U.S. history.
John Moore/Getty Images
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For its part The Onion called it a “significant step in an effort to transform one of the internet’s more notorious misinformation platforms into a new comedy network for satire.” The company says it could announce its new rollout of Infowars in a matter of weeks if the judge approves the deal.
“Eight years, almost to the day, after the Sandy Hook parents first filed suit against Alex Jones, they’ll finally get some justice, and even some money,” said Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion. “This is a chance to make something genuinely new out of a very broken piece of media history.”
On its website Monday, The Onion posted a satirical message from the fictional CEO of its parent company, Global Tetrahedron, “Bryce P. Tetraeder,” stating a “dream is finally coming true.”
Jones’s posted on X Monday that “The Onion Has Fraudulently Claimed AGAIN That It Owns Infowars!!!” adding that “The Democrat Party Disinformation Publication Is Publicly Bragging About Its Plan To Silence Alex Jones’ Infowars And Then Steal & Misrepresent His Identity!”
On a podcast in March, Jones alluded to the impending demise of Infowars, saying, “We’re getting shut down. We beat so many attacks. But finally, we’re shutting down like the middle of next month,” before insisting, “We’re going to be fine.”
Jones suggested Monday he would appeal any court decision to approve the leasing deal. And even if he loses control of Infowars, Jones could continue to broadcast from another studio, under another name.
Jones’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.
More than a year ago, a federal bankruptcy judge rejected The Onion’s first attempt to buy Infowars through a bankruptcy auction, saying the process was flawed. Since then, the bankruptcy court clarified that because Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, is not itself in bankruptcy, its property should be handled instead by a Texas state receiver. That cleared the way for the new pending deal to lease Infowars to The Onion, with the hope that a future sale could be approved.
In papers filed in state court, the Texas receiver said he “determined that licensing the Intellectual Property is in the best interest of the receivership estate.”
The deal calls for The Onion to pay $81,000 a month to license the Infowars.com domain and brand name, which the receiver says will “cover carrying costs to preserve and protect the assets of the receivership estate” until an appeal filed by Jones is decided and the path is cleared for a sale.
Jones’s personal bankruptcy case is proceeding in federal bankruptcy court, where a trustee continues to sell off Jones’s personal property, including cars, homes, watches and guns, with proceeds intended for the families.
A memorial to massacre victims stands near the former site of Sandy Hook Elementary on Dec. 14, 2013 in Newtown, Connecticut, one year after Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 first graders and six adults at the school.
John Moore/Getty Images
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John Moore/Getty Images
US negotiators to head to Pakistan and Iranian cargo ship seized – a recappublished at 00:37 BST 20 April
Tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday
Here’s a recap of the latest developments.
US negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday with the intention of holding further talks on ending the war, Trump says – but Iranian state media cites unnamed officials as saying Tehran has “no plans for now to participate”.
The prospect of further high-level negotiations – a White House official says Vice-President JD Vance will attend – comes amid reports of fresh attacks on commercial vessels.
Trump says the navy intercepted and took “custody” of an Iranian tanker attempting to pass through the US blockade, “blowing a hole” in the ship’s engine room in the process.
Earlier, in the same post announcing his representatives would travel for more talks, Trump renewed his threat to destroy Iranian energy sites and bridges if no deal is reached.
Reports in Iranian media over the weekend suggest Iran is continuing to work on plans to potentially apply a toll to ships passing through the strait – although it’s unclear if such a move will be implemented.
Iranian state TV cites unnamed officials as saying that “continuation of the so-called naval blockade, violation of the ceasefire and threatening US rhetoric” are slowing progress in reaching an agreement.
Trump also accused Iran of violating the ceasefire, saying more commercial ships have been attacked by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
A UK maritime agency reported two commercial ships came under fire in the strait on Saturday.
Iran’s foreign minister had said on Friday that the strait would be opened – which was shortly followed by Trump saying the US naval blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place until a deal is reached. Iran has since said the strait is closed again.
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