Alabama Will Execute Anthony Boyd at Its Own Spiritual Peril

The Horror of Nitrogen Gas Executions

On October 23, the State of Alabama intends to strap a mask to Anthony Boyd’s face and suffocate him with nitrogen gas. I wish I could tell you this was going to be quick and painless. I can’t. I’ve seen it. I was there when Kenneth Smith was killed this way. I watched him fight for breath. I watched his body convulse in panic. I watched him suffocate. It was not merciful. It was not clean. It was not humane. It was torture.

Scripture commands, “Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured” (Hebrews 13:3). I remember. I carry it with me. And now…as Alabama prepares to repeat the same horror…I cannot stay silent.

Anthony Boyd’s Claim of Innocence

I know Anthony Boyd. I’ve prayed with him. I’ve listened to his fears. I’ve witnessed his hope.

Anthony has told me repeatedly that he is innocent of the crime for which he was sentenced to die. Court filings show he continues to challenge the nitrogen hypoxia method as cruel and unusual. His case is complicated, but the system has never been primarily about truth…it has too often been about finality.

Even if…you set his claim of innocence aside…the deeper truth remains. Anthony is a human being, made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). For decades, I’ve watched men on death row grow bitter. Anthony is different. He speaks of faith, of ending executions, of life. His reflections come from humility, not rage. He is not the man the state condemned long ago.

The Terror of Nitrogen Hypoxia Executions

When officials speak of nitrogen hypoxia, they use clinical words. “Reducing oxygen.” “Involuntary movements.” But what it means is suffocation. The mask goes on, and panic sets in. Every fiber of the body screams to live. Horror. Terror. The most basic instinct God gave us…to survive…is crushed.

The prophet asks, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). Torture is not justice. Suffocation is not mercy. Strapping down a human being and forcing gas into his lungs is not humility. It is pride dressed up as law.

Alabama’s History of Injustice

The Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment. But long before the Constitution, the Word of God said: “Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:17). Justice is not vengeance. Justice is restoration.

We don’t just learn this in scripture. Look at the history of wrongful capital convictions in Alabama. Anthony Ray Hinton spent nearly 30 years on death row before his conviction was deemed unconstitutional and dismissed. Toforest Johnson, after more than 25 years behind bars, now has prosecutors calling for a new trial. Bo Cochran spent 19 years on Alabama’s death row before being exonerated. These cases are not exceptions…they’re warnings.

And Scripture also warns us: “For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). If we sow cruelty, we will reap it.

Justice, Mercy and the Death Penalty

This isn’t only about law. It is about our humanity. Anthony is not perfect. None of us are. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But he is more than his worst moment. He is a man of prayer, of faith, of persistence.

Not long ago, Anthony told me, “If they kill me, I just want people to know I kept the struggle.” That has stayed with me. Taking his life will not heal wounds. It will not make us safer. It will not restore what was lost. It will only stain our hands. And remember the words of Jesus: “Let the one without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7).

A Final Plea to Stop the Execution of Anthony Boyd

We can do better. We must do better.

You can do better. You must do better.

I ask Alabama to stop this execution. Stop the cruelty wrapped in procedure. See Anthony Boyd as what he is: a human being, a man who has lived decades behind bars, who still breathes the breath of God.

Jesus said, “I was in prison and you visited me…Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me” (Matthew 25:36, 40). Killing Anthony is not justice. It is the opposite of everything Christ commands.