Alabama executes a man with nitrogen gas, the first time the new method has been used

Alabama executed a convicted murderer with nitrogen gas Thursday, putting him to death with a first-of-its-kind method that once again placed the U.S. at the forefront of the debate over capital punishment. The state said the method would be humane, but critics called it cruel and experimental. Officials said Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. at an Alabama prison after breathing pure nitrogen gas through a face mask to cause oxygen deprivation. It marked the first time that a new execution method has been used in the United States since lethal injection, now the most commonly used method, was introduced in 1982.

tips

convict 罪犯；vt. 宣告有罪

nitrogen 氮气

oxygen 氧气

humane 有人情味的；人道的

cruel 残忍的（crud- crude 粗糙的；天然的）

experimental 实验的

pronounce 宣告；发音（pronunciation 发音）

deprivation 剥夺；免职

deprive 剥夺

lethal 致命的