The state of Alabama is preparing to execute its third death row inmate via nitrogen hypoxia on Thursday, after a US Court of Appeals dismissed the argument that the method was illegal this week.
In 1994, a jury found 50-year-old Carey Dale Grayson guilty of kidnapping and killing 19-year-old hitchhiker Vickie Deblieux. His three co-defendants were all under the age of 18 at the time and are currently serving life sentences.
Grayson supporters have called on Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to intervene in the scheduled execution, although her previous comments imply that she is unlikely to do so. Grayson’s lawyers also filed a long-shot petition with the US Supreme Court on Tuesday.
“The State of Alabama’s nitrogen protocol has been used twice and has not worked as they swore it would,” Grayson’s attorney John Palombi said, according to NBC News. “Instead of taking the sensible approach and fixing the problem, they are pushing forward using the same method on Thursday.”
Grayson has bipolar disease, according to court papers, and his mother died when he was three years old from mental illness. In his trial, a forensic psychologist testified that he was in a “manic state” during the murder but knew the distinction between right and wrong, as well as comprehending the wrongfulness of the crime.
Grayson has lost multiple appeals of his death sentences over the years. His co-defendants, Kenny Loggins, Trace Duncan, and Louis Mangione, all faced the death penalty.
However, a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that forbade the execution of individuals under the age of 18 at the time of their crime led to the change of their sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole.