Anthony Boyd, death row inmate. Provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections (date unknown, provided October 23, 2025). (c)AFP PHOTO / ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS / HANDOUT
[AFP = Current Affairs]A man sentenced to death for burning a man alive for not paying $200 (approximately 30,000 yen at current rates) for cocaine was executed on the 23rd in the southern U.S. state of Alabama by nitrogen inhalation (a method of injecting nitrogen gas into a face mask to cause death row inmates to suffocate to death).
Death row inmate Anthony Boyd was pronounced dead at the state prison in Atmore at 6:33 p.m. CT (8:33 a.m. Japan time), according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.
Boyd, who has always maintained his innocence, murdered Gregory Huguely in 1995.
Boyd, along with three other men, abducted Huguely at gunpoint after he failed to pay $200 for cocaine.
They took him to a baseball field, tied him up with duct tape, poured gasoline on him, and set him on fire.
Boyd was convicted based on the testimony of his co-defendant, Quintay Cox. Cox was spared the death penalty.
The United States has carried out 40 executions so far this year, the most since 2012, when there were 43 executions.
Florida has the highest number of executions, with 14. Texas and Alabama follow with five cases each.
Execution by nitrogen inhalation has been condemned by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the nation’s 50 states, and executions have been suspended in three states: California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
President Donald Trump supports the death penalty and on his first day in office called for expanded use of the death penalty for “particularly heinous crimes.”[Translation Edit]AFPBB News
