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    • Carey Dale Grayson to be executed by gas for murder of hitchhiker
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    Carey Dale Grayson to be executed by gas for murder of hitchhiker

    Umito Posted on

    Carey Dale Grayson is set to die of nitrogen hypoxia after being convicted of murdering 37-year-old hitchhiker Vickie Deblieux in 1994. Supporters say it was a method painless. Opponents call it torture

    An Alabama death row inmate is set to become the third inmate to be executed by nitrogen gas in the country on Thursday for his role in the brutal 1994 murder of a hitchhiker.

    Carey Dale Grayson, now 49, was one of four teenagers convicted of capital murder for the torture, bludgeoning and mutilation of Vickie Lynn Deblieux on February 21, 1994. Deblieux, 37, was hitchhiked from southeast Tennessee to visit his mother out West. Monroe, La., when the four teens picked her up along a highway near Trussville and soon after proceeded to kill her, according to court records.

    If Grayson’s execution goes ahead as the state plans on Thursday, he will become the 22nd inmate executed in the country so far this year. It would also be the sixth execution in the state in a year and the third in two months, reported the Montgomery Advertiserwhich is part of the USA TODAY network.

    As his execution approaches, USA TODAY takes a look back at the crime, who Grayson is and what led him on the path to murder.

    Learn more about what Carey Dale Grayson was convicted of

    On February 21, 1994, Deblieux was dropped off by a friend in Chattanooga, near Interstate 59, where she began making trips southwest.

    At one point, Grayson – who was 19 – and three other teenagers picked up Deblieux. along a highway in Jefferson County, Alabama, about 15 miles northeast of Birmingham.

    The teens stopped in a wooded area of ​​Bald Mountain, using trickery to find another vehicle. There, Deblieux was beaten, trampled and kicked. Testimony showed Grayson and another teen held on to her throat to kill her.

    His body was eventually thrown off a cliff. The teens later returned and mutilated his corpse, cutting the body at least 180 times, removing part of one lung and cutting off his fingers, according to court records.

    The teenagers became suspects in the murder when one of the boys showed a friend a Deblieux finger.

    Besides Grayson, a jury found Kenny Loggins, Trace Duncan and Louis Mangione guilty of capital murder.

    Duncan, Loggins and Mangione had their death sentences overturned and were each sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This decision was made in 2005 after the United States Supreme Court banned the execution of people under the age of 18 for committing a crime.

    Learn more about the nitrogen gas method

    Nitrogen hypoxia is a controversial execution method, first tried in the country only during the Alabama execution. Kenneth Eugene Smith in January. Smith’s execution by this method attracted national and international scorn as well as media attention, including a protest from the Vatican.

    Smith appeared to writhe and convulse on the gurney for at least four minutes during the execution. State and prison officials said before the execution that Smith was expected to lose consciousness “within seconds” and be dead within minutes after gas began flowing into the full face mask Smith was wearing.

    Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm called Smith’s execution “textbook” during a news conference about a half-hour after the execution, and said the The prison system was prepared to move forward with more nitrogen hypoxia executions.

    In Alabama, there are approximately 160 inmates on death row, and they have a choice of which method of execution will be used: lethal injection, nitrogen hypoxia and electrocution. Grayson is one of about 30 inmates who chose the nitrogen hypoxia method before its first use in Alabama.

    With the nitrogen hypoxia method, the convict breathes pure nitrogen through a mask which displaces oxygen in their system. Proponents claim that it is an almost instant and painless method. Opponents say the method is untested and amounts to torture.

    On September 26, Alan Eugene Miller became the second Alabama inmate executed with nitrogen hypoxia as a method.

    Grayson’s calls are almost all exhausted

    Grayson filed several appeals over the years and lost. His last hope for a reprieve rests with the U.S. Supreme Court and Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, who responded to a question from the Montgomery Advertiser about the timing of Grayson’s execution the week before Thanksgiving by saying, “Carey Grayson Did he consider the issue of Grayson’s execution? that he robbed Vicki DeBlieux and her family of now 30 Thanksgivings?”

    On August 15, the Alabama Supreme Court authorized Grayson’s execution. Days later, his lawyers asked a federal judge to block the state from using the nitrogen protocol.

    Lawyers highlighted Smith’s execution, saying the method could amount to cruel and unusual punishment since it did not guarantee a painless death for their client.

    Learn more about Carey Dale Grayson

    Grayson suffers from bipolar disorder and his mother died when he was 3 after struggling with mental illness, according to court records.

    A forensic psychologist testified that Grayson was “in a manic state” during the killing but that he “knew the difference between right and wrong and was capable of appreciating the nature and quality or wrongfulness of his actions, according to court records.

    During an interview with police, Grayson described the young teens as committing the most heinous acts during the crime. When asked why they killed Deblieux, according to court records, he told police he didn’t know and that “it wasn’t his problem.”

    Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.

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