Alabama Executes Geoffrey West by Nitrogen Gas for 1997 Murder
Alabama Executes Geoffrey West by Nitrogen Gas for 1997 Murder
Geoffrey Todd West, 50, was executed Thursday night at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in south Alabama, becoming the nation’s latest individual to face capital punishment by nitrogen gas. West was convicted of the 1997 capital murder of Margaret Parrish Berry, a 33-year-old store clerk.
The execution proceeded despite a plea from Berry’s son, Will Berry, who had urged Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to commute West’s sentence to life in prison, citing forgiveness. Governor Ivey, however, affirmed her duty to uphold state laws concerning capital punishment, stating in a Sept. 11 letter that death is imposed for the most egregious forms of murder.
West was found guilty of the 1997 shooting death of Berry during a gas station robbery in Etowah County. Prosecutors argued Berry was killed to eliminate a witness, with court records indicating $250 was stolen. West, who expressed deep remorse, admitted to the killing and conveyed a desire to apologize to Berry’s family, stating, “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t regret it.”
The execution marks Alabama’s fifth use of nitrogen gas, a method involving the forced inhalation of pure nitrogen to deprive the individual of oxygen. This method was authorized by Alabama lawmakers in 2018, and West was among the inmates who selected it at the time. Nationally, six people have now been executed using nitrogen gas, with five in Alabama and one in Louisiana. A separate execution was also scheduled in Texas for Thursday evening.
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