A “vicious” killer and rapist was executed by the state of Alabama on Thursday, becoming the fourth death row inmate in the U.S. to be executed with nitrogen gas.
Demetrius Terrence Frazier, 52, was convicted of the 1991 murder of 41-year-old Pauline Brown. Frazier raped and shot her after breaking into her Birmingham apartment, according to prosecutors.
Frazier’s final words before being executed were, “Detroit strong”, “I love everybody on Death Row,” and “Let’s go”, according to AL.com.
The inmate said in his final statement that he wanted to “apologize” to the family and friends of his victim, and added: “What happened to Pauline Brown should have never happened.”
Frazier’s Thursday evening execution was the third to take place in the U.S. in 2005 and the first in Alabama. Last year it became the first state to carry out executions with nitrogen gas, with three inmates put to death with the new method.
During the execution a gas mask is placed over the inmate’s face, replacing breathable oxygen with pure nitrogen gas, killing them by lack of oxygen.
Frazier's execution came a year after Kenneth Eugene Smith became the first person in the U.S. to be executed by nitrogen gas in January 2024.
Frazier’s time of death was given as 6.36pm CT.
“In Alabama, we enforce the law,” Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement after the execution.
“You don’t come to our state and mess with our citizens and get away with it. Rapists and murderers are not welcome on our streets, and tonight, justice was carried out for Pauline Brown and her loved ones. I pray for her family that all these years later, they can continue healing and have assurance that Demetrius Frazier cannot harm anyone else.”
Lawyers for Frazier had argued that the inmate actually belonged to the state of Michigan but Governor Gretchen Whitmer refused to take any action in the case.
Frazier addressed Whitmer, who has been tipped for a 2028 presidential run, as he was strapped to the gurney in the execution chamber.
“If you can’t stand up for the Michigan Constitution, how can you stand up for the U.S. Constitution?” he said according to AL.com.
Frazier’s execution was welcomed by Alabama’s attorney general.
“For more than three decades, the family of Pauline Brown has waited for justice," said Steve Marshall in a statement.
"Tonight, that wait is over. Demetrius Frazier was a monster who brutally took the lives of two innocent women and left behind a trail of unspeakable violence.
“For the crimes he committed in Alabama, he was fairly and appropriately punished. While nothing can erase the agony he inflicted, I pray that this brings closure to those who loved Pauline and have endured the painfully slow wheels of justice for so many years.”
