Mum's plea as Death Row sicko who raped and murdered woman in her home is executed with nitrogen gas
Mum's plea as Death Row sicko who raped and murdered woman in her home is executed with nitrogen gas
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A sick Death Row killer who raped and murdered a woman in her home has become just the fourth to be executed using the controversial nitrogen gas method tonight. Despite his mother's pleas, the State of Alabama has carried out the execution of Demetrius Terrence Frazier, who was found guilty of the 1991 murder of Pauline Brown, aged 41. Frazier, 52, was executed using nitrogen gas in the early hours of Friday morning.
This marks the first execution performed by the state this year and the third across the US. Alabama has pioneered the use of nitrogen gas for executions, having ordered the deaths of three other inmates via this method last year. The process involves fitting a respirator gas mask over the individual's face, replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen. In the lead up to his execution, Frazier had no outstanding court appeals.
Instead, pleas were reportedly made on his behalf to a governor in another state to intervene and halt the execution. It's reported that in Frazier's final hours, his mother and opponents of the death penalty appealed to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to return Frazier to Michigan. He had been serving a life sentence there for the murder of a 14-year-old girl before being transferred to Alabama's death row. The aim was to spare Frazier's life, as Michigan does not have a death penalty, reports the Mirror US.
"I know my son has changed. Demetrius has repented," his mother, Carol Frazier, wrote in a letter. "Please don't let Alabama kill my son.". Whitmer has yet to publicly comment on the situation. However, the Michigan attorney general's office stated in a January court filing that they did not want Frazier back. State attorneys penned: "While Michigan takes no position on the imposition of the death penalty in this case, Michigan does not seek to return Frazier to a Michigan correctional facility," It was earlier reported that Frazier had been found guilty of separate murders in 1991 in Michigan and another killing a year later in Alabama. Prosecutors claimed that on Nov. 27, 1991, Frazier, then aged 19, broke into Brown's flat through a window while she was asleep.
They further alleged that Frazier held the woman at gunpoint, demanding she hand over $80 million from her purse. They also accused him of shooting her in the head after sexually assaulting her, before returning to the flat later for a snack and to search for money. Michigan police reported that Frazier confessed to the murder. The outlet also reported that he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 14-year-old Crystal Kendrick.
In 1996, an Alabama jury found him guilty of murdering Brown and recommended by a vote of 10-2 that he be given a death sentence. Frazier remained in Michigan custody until 2011 when the then-governors of both states agreed to transfer him to Alabama's death row. Last week, it was reported that a federal judge dismissed a request to halt Frazier's execution. His lawyers argued that the new method of execution does not work as swiftly as the state promised.
