Death row inmate takes abnormally long time to die after using last words to make a haunting final claim

Anthony Todd Boyd was executed in Alabama on Thursday with nitrogen gas for the 1993 murder of a man named Gregory Huguley

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The state of Alabama executed Anthony Todd Boyd with nitrogen gas for a 1993 murder on Thursday, using his final words to maintain his innocence.

Boyd, 54, was pronounced dead at 6:33 p.m. CT on Thursday. He was executed for the murder of a man named Gregory Huguley, who was taped and burned alive over a $200 cocaine debt.

In his last words and a final plea, Boyd denied the slaying.

“I just want to say again, I didn’t kill anybody, I didn’t participate in killing anybody. Just want everyone to know, there is no justice in this state,” Boyd said in his last words, as reported by the Montgomery Advertiser. He also reportedly refused a last meal.

He added that justice can only be found when change is made because the execution system “is not about closure because closure comes from within, not from an execution.” He closed his statement with, “I want all my people to keep fighting, you all matter. Let’s get it.”

Boyd had requested the state to use a different execution method, such as the firing squad. But the request was denied in a decision condemned by all three liberal Supreme Court Justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

“Boyd asks for the barest form of mercy: to die by firing squad, which would kill him in seconds, rather than by a torturous suffocation lasting up to four minutes,” Sotomayor wrote in the dissent. “The Constitution would grant him that grace, my colleagues do not.”

The man’s execution has been described as “torture,” as he was reportedly fighting for his life for at least 19 minutes, his spiritual adviser, Rev. Jeff Hood, said. Hood added that his mask was not sealed, which could allow more oxygen in, and hence a more agonizing death. However, other witnesses do not report seeing that.

Witnesses say that the nitrogen gas began flowing at 5:57 p.m. CT, leading his legs to rise several inches off the gurney as he fought for oxygen. For the next 14 minutes, he took deep breaths. His breathing eventually became shallow at 6:15 p.m., with his last breath reportedly coming at about 6:17 p.m.

Other witnesses, including reporters and Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm, said it was the state’s longest nitrogen gas execution up to this point, Newsweek reports

“It’s torture,” Hood told USA Today after the execution. “We shouldn’t do this to anybody. We are better than this. We are better than suffocating people to death.”

The state of Alabama did not immediately comment on claims about a prolonged execution. However, in a statement immediately following Boyd’s death, Attorney General Steve Marshall said his office remains committed to bringing justice to victims of crime.

“In 2014, he challenged Alabama’s lethal injection protocol, and in 2018, he opted for nitrogen hypoxia— each time strategically avoiding accountability for his crime. Gregory Huguley was never afforded the chance to delay his own brutal and untimely death,” Marshall said.

“Alabama remains steadfast in its commitment to uphold the law and deliver justice for victims and their families. I am proud of my team’s tireless dedication to that mission, and I pray that Gregory’s loved ones may finally find peace in knowing justice has been served,” the statement continued.

Alabama has used nitrogen gas as an execution method six times since January 2024, when it became the first state to do so. The state has continued to use that method regardless of backlash from critics who say it causes extremely torturous deaths and suffering, including some in the Jewish community, who liken it to Nazi gas chambers during the Holocaust.