Demetrius Terrance Frazier was executed for murder and rape. (Image: AP)
The chilling last words of an death row inmate have been revealed after he was executed using nitrogen gas for rape and murder.
Demetrius Terrance Frazier, 52, of the 1991 rape and murder of Pauline Brown, 41 in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Detroit local appeared to take aim at Governor Gretchen Whitemer for what he called “her failure to step in” following failed appeals for him to serve the rest of his life sentence in the state, thereby escaping the death penalty.
Frazier’s final words were: “First of all, I want to apologise to the family and friends of Pauline Brown. What happened to Pauline Brown should have never happened.
“If you cannot stand up for the constitution of Michigan, how are you going to stand up for the US Constitution when you run for president? Detroit strong. I love everyone on death row. Let’s go.”
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Demetrius’ mother Carol pleaded for her son to not get the death penalty. (Image: AP)
Frazier’s mother Carol also pleaded with Ms Whitemer to bring her son back to Michigan. She wrote in a letter: “Please bring my son back to Michigan. Please don’t let Alabama kill my son if you can stop it.”
However, the governor said she was not able to do anything as her predecessor Rick Snyder was the one who allowed Frazier to be sent to Alabama.
She told The Detroit News: “It’s a really tough situation. I understand the pleas and concerns. Michigan is not a death penalty state.”
When he was 19, Frazier broke into Brown’s apartment and raped her at gunpoint after he robbed her of $80, prosecutors said. He then shot her in the head, returning later for a snack and to look for more money, they added.
However, his first life sentence was in Michigan for the 1991 murder of Crystal Kendrick, 14. He remained in Michigan until 2011 when governors agreed to move him to death row in Alabama.
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Frazier’s execution marked the first in Alabama this year and the third in the US. It began at around 6:10 pm, with his breathing slowing at 6:14 pm, according to the Associated Press.
By 6:21 pm, he was no longer moving, and eight minutes later the curtains to the execution chamber were closed.
Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said the nitrogen gas was flowing for roughly 18 minutes and Frazier’s heartbeat stopped 13 minutes into it.