JUST IN: Kenneth Eugene Smith Executed in Alabama— The Crime, Last Meal & His Last Word

The US state of Alabama has carried out the first known execution of a death row inmate by suffocation with nitrogen gas. Kenneth Smith, a convicted murderer, was put to death after the Supreme Court again denied a last-minute appeal. The method had never been tried before, and Smith’s lawyers had argued that it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

On January 25th, 2024, Kenneth Eugene Smith was executed by nitrogen hypoxia at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. He was 58 years old, and he was the first human being in recorded history to be executed using nitrogen gas. In this video, we will find out exactly what happened that night, his last meal, his final words, and the events that led to one of the most controversial executions America has ever witnessed.

But to understand where this ends, we have to start at the beginning. Sheffield, Alabama, 1988. A small town, a pastor, and a secret that would destroy an entire family. Reverend Charles Sennett Sr. appeared to be everything a man of God should be. He led the Westside Church of Christ. People trusted him, respected him, looked up to him. But behind closed doors, Charles Sennett was drowning. He had accumulated serious debt. He was having an extramarital affair, and he had quietly taken out a large life insurance policy on his wife, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Sennett was 45 years old. By every account, she was a devoted wife, a loving mother and grandmother, and a woman deeply rooted in her faith and community. She had no idea what her husband was planning.

In March 1988, Reverend Sennett set a plan in motion. He approached Billy Gray Williams, one of his tenants, and hired him to find someone to kill Elizabeth. The plan was simple: make it look like a burglary. Get in, get out, collect the insurance money. Williams brought in two men, Kenneth Eugene Smith and John Forrest Parker. Each man was paid $1,000. Sennett even gave the money to buy a gun for the job. They spent that money on drugs instead, and they chose a 6-inch survival knife.

On the day of the murder, Smith and Parker drove to the Sennett home in Colbert County. Court records state that Smith was sharpening the knife as they traveled. When they arrived, they attacked Elizabeth Sennett inside her home, beating her, stabbing her, leaving her unconscious. Investigators later concluded that when Reverend Sennett returned home, he found his wife still alive. It is believed he administered the final wound himself, then called the police.

Elizabeth Sennett died in her own home one week later. When investigators began circling his name, Reverend Charles Sennett Sr. took his own life.

Kenneth Smith was not difficult to find. When investigators searched his home, they found the Sennett’s VCR, taken from the house during the attack. That single piece of evidence linked him directly to the crime. He was arrested, charged, and the case moved toward trial. Both Smith and Parker were charged with capital murder. Billy Gray Williams, the middleman who arranged it all, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He died behind bars in November 2020.

Kenneth Smith was tried twice. The first trial took place in 1989; he was convicted of capital murder. A second trial was held in 1996. Again, capital murder. But here is where it gets complicated. In that second trial, the jury voted 11 to 1 in favor of a life sentence, not death. The judge overruled them. In Alabama at the time, judges had the authority to override jury recommendations in capital cases. It was called the judicial override. Under that power, Kenneth Smith was sentenced to death in 1996. Alabama abolished judicial override in 2017, but that change had no retroactive effect. It would not save Kenneth Smith. John Forrest Parker, his co-conspirator, was also sentenced to death. He was executed by lethal injection on June 10th, 2010.

Smith exhausted every avenue of appeal by late 2022. His execution was scheduled. On November 17th, 2022, Kenneth Smith was scheduled to die by lethal injection. It didn’t happen. Execution teams attempted to set the intravenous lines required to deliver the lethal drugs. They failed. They could not access his veins within the time allowed by the death warrant. The execution was called off.

But what happened in between is deeply disturbing. At 7:57 p.m., guards ended Smith’s final phone call with his wife. He was placed in handcuffs, taken to the execution chamber, and strapped to the gurney. Two minutes later, the 11th Circuit issued a stay of execution. Smith’s lawyers delivered that notice to the Alabama Department of Corrections at 8:02 p.m. The response from ADOC was one word: “noted”. Kenneth Smith was left strapped to that gurney until midnight—four hours. In his legal complaint afterward, Smith described the experience, the pain, the confusion, the pleading for someone to explain what was happening to him. No one answered. He thought they were executing him. Smith survived that night, but those who knew him said he was never the same.

As part of a legal settlement afterward, Alabama agreed not to pursue lethal injection again. Smith was given the option to choose nitrogen hypoxia, a method that had never been used on a human being before. The announcement that Alabama intended to execute Kenneth Smith by nitrogen gas set off a global response. Medical experts raised serious concerns. The protocol was shrouded in secrecy. The state refused to release critical details about how the gas would be delivered, what concentration would be used, or how it had been tested. Smith’s attorneys argued the mask might not seal properly, that oxygen could leak in, prolonging his death and causing him to vomit inside the mask, risking suffocation. In the weeks before the execution, Smith himself had reportedly been vomiting repeatedly, a detail his lawyers raised in court. The state dismissed it as largely self-reported.

The United Nations weighed in. Human rights experts called on Alabama to halt the execution, warning it could amount to torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under international law. The US Supreme Court denied every last-minute appeal. Smith and his spiritual advisor, Reverend Jeff Hood, issued a joint statement the afternoon before his death: “The eyes of the world are on this impending moral apocalypse. Our prayer is that people will not turn their heads. We simply cannot normalize the suffocation of each other.” Elizabeth Sennett’s sons told CNN earlier that same day that they believed it was time for Smith’s sentence to be carried out and that their mother had been forgotten in the conversation about the execution method.

Smith spent his final 24 hours receiving visits from friends and family, including his wife, Deanna. Deanna Smith spoke to the press that evening: “While everybody was waiting for Christmas, all excited about Christmas, our family was waiting for the courts to decide the fate of my husband and whether he’s going to suffer or were they going to stand up and do the right thing.” Kenneth Smith’s last meal was steak, hash browns, and eggs.

At 7:56 p.m., the execution began. Smith was strapped to a gurney, arms extended, covered with a white sheet to his chest. A mask was fitted over his face, full coverage. The mask muffled his voice, but through it, he spoke his final words: “Tonight, Alabama caused humanity to take a step backwards. I leave with love, peace, and light. I love all of you. Thank you for supporting me.”

The nitrogen began to flow. Alabama officials had promised it would be swift and painless. They told courts he would lose consciousness almost immediately. They said he would die within minutes. That is not what witnesses saw. At 7:57 p.m., one minute after the execution began, Smith’s body started thrashing against the restraints. His whole body and head jerked violently back and forth. He clenched his fists. His legs shook. He gasped for air. His body lifted against the straps binding him to the gurney. Witnesses observed fluid inside the mask.

Kenneth Eugene Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. It had taken 29 minutes. The reaction was immediate and international. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the execution, stating that nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution amounted to a potential form of torture and degrading punishment. UN Special Rapporteurs released a joint statement calling it a stark reminder of the barbaric nature of the death penalty. Advocates and legal organizations called for Alabama to halt any further nitrogen executions until a full review could be conducted.

The Alabama Attorney General’s office called it justice served. Elizabeth Sennett’s son, Michael, spoke at a press conference after the execution. He said, “All three of the people involved in this case, we have forgiven them. Not today, but we have in the past.” He also noted that Parker and Smith had been incarcerated for almost twice as long as he had known his mother.

Despite the controversy, Alabama pressed forward. On September 26th, 2024, just eight months after Smith’s death, Alan Eugene Miller became the second person in history to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia, also in Alabama. Other states began exploring the method as well. What began as a controversy in one state had become a blueprint.

This case leaves us with a lot to sit with. Elizabeth Sennett was a real woman, a mother, a grandmother. She was murdered in her own home because her husband wanted out. And he was willing to pay $1,000 to make it happen. That is a fact. It is not up for debate. What is up for debate is everything that happened in the 36 years that followed. A jury, 11 of 12 people, voted to spare Kenneth Smith’s life. A judge overruled them. A man was strapped to a gurney for four hours in a failed execution. And then, on a winter night in Alabama, a mask was placed over his face, and he was killed using a method never before tested on a human being.

Witnesses watched him writhe. They watched him gasp. They watched his body fight against restraints for nearly half an hour. And now his death is a precedent. Other states are watching. Other prisoners are waiting. His final words were, “Tonight, Alabama caused humanity to take a step backwards.”

So, here is the question I want to leave you with. When a man is put to death in a way that even his executioners cannot fully explain, in a way that has never been done before, in a way that took 29 minutes while witnesses watched him suffer, is that justice? Or is it something else? Let me know in the comments what you think.