2:09 pm - February 23, 2025
The Execution of Demetrius Frazier in Alabama
In a(significant magnitude, Demetrius Frazier, a 52-year-old man convicted of murder, was executed by nitrogen gas in Alabama on Thursday, marking the fourth execution using this method in the United States this year. Frazier was sentenced to death for the 1991 rape and killing of Pauline Brown, a 41-year-old woman he broke into her apartment while she was asleep. His execution in a southern Alabama prison was the first in the state this year and the third in the U.S. in 2025, following similar events in Texas and South Carolina.
Before his execution, Frazier delivered his final words, apologizing to Brown’s family and friends and expressing love for his fellow death row inmates. He also criticized Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for not intervening to return him to Michigan, where he had been serving a life sentence for the 1992 murder of a teenage girl, Crystal Kendrick. Michigan does not have the death penalty, and Frazier’s mother and opponents had pleaded for his return to serve the remainder of his life sentence there.
Whitmer acknowledged the difficulty of the situation, explaining that the decision to send Frazier to Alabama was made by her predecessor, Rick Snyder, and that it was now under Alabama’s jurisdiction. Prosecutors detailed the chilling actions that led to Brown’s death: Frazier broke into her apartment, demanded money, raped her at gunpoint, and then shot her in the head. He returned later for a snack and to search for more money, ending the life of a woman who had recently become engaged.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey celebrated the execution as a form of justice, stating that rapists and murderers are not welcome in the state and that justice had been carried out for Brown and her loved ones. Frazier’s death marked the fourth execution using nitrogen gas in Alabama, with the method involving placing a gas mask over the prisoner’s face to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen, causing death by suffocation.
Frazier, like the previous three individuals executed with nitrogen gas in Alabama, displayed involuntary movements during his execution, though less pronounced than the others. He was strapped to a gurney with a blue-rimmed gas mask and struggled slightly before becoming still. Corrections Commissioner John Hamm stated that Frazier lost consciousness quickly and that the gas flowed for approximately 18 minutes before his heartbeat stopped.
Despite defense attorney arguments that the nitrogen gas execution method was not as quick as promised and that it caused severe psychological distress, a federal judge ruled that there was no evidence of excessive pain beyond what is inherent in any execution. Critics, including Death Penalty Action’s Abraham Bonowitz, called the method experimental and urged further scrutiny in federal courts before another execution is carried out.
Frazier’s final moments included a visit with his mother, sister, and legal team, as well as a final meal of Taco Bell burritos and a Mountain Dew soft drink. His execution concluded a legal and emotional journey that began over 30 years ago, leaving behind questions about the fairness and transparency of the death penalty and the psychological toll it takes on those involved. His death brings closure for Brown’s family, though the memories of his crimes will remain indelible.