Ala. Inmate Executed by Nitrogen Gas For Raping, Killing Woman in 1991

An Alabama death row inmate who raped and murdered a woman in 1991 was executed this week using nitrogen gas, making him the fourth person in the U.S. to die by the controversial method.

Demetrius Frazier was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6 at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., where he had been serving out his sentence for the rape and murder of Pauline Brown, according to a press release shared by the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.

Before the execution, Frazier, 52, spoke his final words: “First of all, I want to apologize to the friends and family of Pauline Brown, what happened to her should never have happened,” Frazier said, according to the Associated Press.  

Frazier also expressed an apology to the Black community and addressed Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after he petitioned her to return him to the state to serve his life sentence for separate crimes. He ended his statement with, “Detroit strong. I love everyone on death row. Let’s go,” the outlet reported.

On Nov. 26, 1991, Frazier broke into Brown’s ground-floor apartment in Birmingham, Ala., where he searched for money, woke her up, and raped her at gunpoint, according to court records cited by the Montgomery Advertiser. 

Brown reportedly begged for her life before Frazier fatally shot her in the head. After he was arrested in a different case, Frazier admitted to his role in Brown’s murder while being questioned by Detroit police, the outlet reports, citing court records.

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In 1993, Frazier was convicted in the separate rape of Jacqueline Gresham and murder of 14-year-old Crystal Kendrick, both of which had occurred in Detroit, Mich., according to the Alabama attorney general’s office. As a result, he received multiple life sentences. 

As for Brown’s killing, Frazier was tried in Alabama in 1995. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. and Frazier was transferred back to Alabama to serve out his death sentence, per the AG’s release.

“Demetrius Frazier was a monster who brutally took the lives of two innocent woman and left behind a trail of unspeakable violence,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in the release.

Alabama was the first state to utilize the method known as nitrogen hypoxia for executions, according to the AP. The procedure involves forcing pure nitrogen into the inmate’s lungs while cutting off the oxygen supply.

Kenneth Eugene Smith was the first inmate to be executed using the method in January 2024, and four others, including Frazier, have followed.

Alabama officials have claimed nitrogen hypoxia is, “the most painless and humane method of execution known to man,” according to reporting by NPR, though the American Veterinary Medical Association called the method “unacceptable” for all mammals except pigs.

In his statement Thursday, Marshall said the method “has been proven to be both constitutional and effective.”