Carey Dale Grayson, 50, was put to death on Thursday in Alabama's third execution using nitrogen gas - he requested a luxury meal before his death that included tacos and chips
A Death Row killer requested an elaborate food order for his final meal and guzzled down Mountain Dew.
Carey Dale Grayson, 50, from Alabama, was jailed after he murdered hitchhiking mother Vickie Deblieux in 1994. He was sentenced to death by nitrogen gas, but asked for a lavish seafood banquet before he died on Thursday evening.
Grayson rejected the breakfast and lunch trays but opted for coffee and Mountain Dew. As well as seafood, he requested soft tacos, beef burritos, tostada, chips with guacamole from local establishments, before finishing off with a Mountain Dew Blast.
Alabama began using nitrogen gas earlier this year to carry out some executions. The method involves placing a respirator gas mask over the face to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing death by lack of oxygen.
Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm said the nitrogen flowed for 15 minutes and an electrocardiogram showed Grayson no longer had a heartbeat about 10 minutes after the gas began flowing. Like two others previously executed by nitrogen, Grayson shook at times before taking a periodic series of gasping breaths.
The victim's daughter told reporters afterward that her mother had her future stolen from her. But she also spoke out against the decision to execute Grayson and "murdering inmates under the guise of justice."
Grayson appeared to speak toward the witness room where state officials were present, but his words could not be heard. He raised both middle fingers at the start of the execution.
DeBlieux's mutilated body was found at the bottom of a bluff near Odenville, Alabama, on Feb. 26, 1994. She was hitchhiking from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to her mother's home in West Monroe, Louisiana, when the four teens offered her a ride. Prosecutors said the teens took her to a wooded area and attacked and beat her. They returned to mutilate her body.
A medical examiner testified that her face was so fractured that she was identified by an earlier X-ray of her spine. Investigators said the teens were identified as suspects after one of them showed a friend one of DeBlieux's severed fingers and boasted about the killing.
DeBlieux's daughter Jodi Haley spoke with reporters at the media center on prison property after the execution. Haley was 12 when her mother was killed. Describing her mum she said: "She was unique. She was spontaneous. She was wild. She was funny."
Gov. Kay Ivey said afterward she was praying for the victim's loved ones to find closure and healing. She said: "Some thirty years ago, Vicki DeBlieux's journey to her mother's house and ultimately, her life, were horrifically cut short because of Carey Grayson and three other men. She sensed something was wrong, attempted to escape, but instead, was brutally tortured and murdered."
Grayson's crimes "were heinous, unimaginable, without an ounce of regard for human life and just unexplainably mean." She added: "An execution by nitrogen hypoxia (bears) no comparison to the death and dismemberment Ms DeBlieux experienced."
Grayson was the only one of the four teenagers who faced a death sentence since the other teens were under 18 at the time of the killing. Grayson was 19.