Man executed by lethal injection in Alabama: Even he sought death penalty

A 55-year-old man was executed Thursday in Alabama after being convicted of the rape and murder of a woman in 2010. The convict asked at his trial to be sentenced to death.

James Osgood received the method of lethal injection in an Atmore Prison, Alabama state judicial services announced in a statement. The man was pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m. on April 24.

14 executions so far this year

Osgood's death marked the state's second execution of the year, the first by lethal injection. The state executed Demetrius Frazier on Feb. 6 by nitrogen hypoxia. This brings the number of death sentences carried out in the U.S. to 14 since the beginning of the year.

Of the total, 10 are by lethal injection, two by nitrogen inhalation, a controversial method used for the first time in the world by Alabama in 2024, and two by firing squad in South Carolina, last used in the country in 2010.

Osgood asked in a letter to end his life

The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), an anti-death penalty organization, said in a statement that Osgood himself had given up appealing his execution and had asked in a letter that his life be ended.

Osgood, along with his girlfriend, was convicted of raping, slitting the throat and stabbing a 44-year-old mother named Tracy Lynn Brown in 2010, AFP reported.

The executed man's girlfriend, who is a relative of the victim, is serving a life sentence.

The death penalty was abolished in 23 of the country's 50 states, while Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee maintain moratoriums by decision of their respective governors.