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Time frame set for execution of man convicted of gang murder of woman in Alabama in 1994

One of four men convicted of murdering an Alabama woman three decades ago is scheduled to be executed later this year. On Monday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced that the window for the execution of death row inmate Carey Dale Grayson will open at midnight on Nov. 12 and close at 6 a.m. the next morning. “While I have no current plans to grant clemency in this case, I reserve the authority under the Constitution of the State of Alabama to grant a stay or commutation of sentence at any time prior to the execution, if necessary,” Ivey said. The execution will be carried out by nitrogen hypoxia, the same method the State of Alabama first used to kill Kenneth Smith.>> WVTM 13 ON THE GO: Download our app for free. Alabama and inmate advocates continue to hold opposing views on what happened in the first execution using nitrogen gas. Smith shook for several minutes on the gurney in the death chamber as he was executed on Jan. 25. While Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called the execution “textbook,” lawyers for the inmates said it was the opposite of the state's prediction that nitrogen would produce a quick and humane death. Grayson has filed an ongoing lawsuit seeking to block the state from using the same protocol used in Smith's execution. His lawyers argued the method caused unconstitutional pain and that Smith showed signs of “conscious asphyxiation.” Grayson was charged with torturing and killing Vickie Deblieux, 37, on Feb. 21, 1994. Prosecutors said Deblieux was hitchhiking from Tennessee to her mother's home in Louisiana when four teenagers, including Grayson, offered her a ride. Prosecutors said they took her to a wooded area, attacked her, beat her and threw her off a cliff. The teens later mutilated her body, prosecutors said.>> FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Grayson, Kenny Loggins and Trace Duncan were all convicted and sentenced to death. However, the death sentences against Loggins and Duncan, who were under 18 at the time of the crime, were overturned after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 banned the execution of offenders who were younger than 18 at the time of the crime. Grayson was 19, the fourth teen was sentenced to life in prison. Schulz pointed out that in a 2004 Supreme Court brief opposing an age limit for the death penalty, Alabama wrote that it would be foolish to execute Grayson but not his co-defendants, whom the state described as “obviously just as guilty — if not more so — of Vickie's death and mutilation.” The state wanted to allow the execution of all juveniles.

MONTGOMERY, Alabama —

One of the four men convicted of murdering a woman in Alabama three decades ago is scheduled to be executed later this year.

On Monday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced that the window for the execution of death row inmate Carey Dale Grayson would open at noon on November 12 and close at 6 a.m. the next morning.

“While I have no current plans to grant clemency in this case, I reserve the authority under the Constitution of the State of Alabama to grant a reprieve or commutation of sentence at any time prior to execution, if necessary,” Ivey said.

The execution will be carried out by nitrogen hypoxia, the same method first used by the state of Alabama to execute Kenneth Smith.

>> WVTM 13 ON THE GO: Download our app for free

Alabama and the inmates' attorneys continue to hold opposing views about what happened in the first execution using nitrogen gas. Smith shook for several minutes on the gurney in the death chamber when he was executed on Jan. 25. While Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called the execution “textbook,” the inmates' attorneys said it was the opposite of the state's prediction that nitrogen would ensure a quick and humane death.

Grayson has filed an ongoing lawsuit seeking to prevent the state from using the same protocol used in Smith's execution. His lawyers argued the method caused unconstitutional pain and that Smith showed signs of “conscious asphyxiation.”

Grayson was accused of torturing and killing Vickie Deblieux, 37, on Feb. 21, 1994. Prosecutors said Deblieux was hitchhiking from Tennessee to her mother's home in Louisiana when four teenagers, including Grayson, offered her a ride. Prosecutors said they took her to a wooded area, attacked her, beat her and threw her off a cliff. The teens later mutilated her body, prosecutors said.

>> FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: on facebook. | Þjórsárdalur | Instagram | YouTube

Grayson, Kenny Loggins and Trace Duncan were all convicted and sentenced to death. However, the death sentences against Loggins and Duncan, who were younger than 18 at the time of the crime, were overturned after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 banned the execution of offenders who were younger than 18 at the time of the crime. Grayson was 19.

The fourth teenager was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Schulz pointed out that in a 2004 Supreme Court brief opposing an age limit for the death penalty, Alabama wrote that it would be foolish to allow Grayson to be executed but not his co-defendants, who the state says are “clearly equally guilty – if not more guilty – of Vickie's death and mutilation.” The state wanted to allow all juveniles to be executed.

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