Overview
- Jessie Hoffman Jr., convicted of the 1996 abduction, rape, and murder of Mary 'Molly' Elliott, was executed using nitrogen gas on March 18, 2025.
- This was the first execution in Louisiana in 15 years and the state's first use of nitrogen hypoxia, a method previously employed only in Alabama.
- The U.S. Supreme Court declined to block the execution in a 5-4 decision, despite legal arguments citing cruel and unusual punishment and infringement on Hoffman's Buddhist practices.
- Witness accounts from previous nitrogen gas executions in Alabama reported distressing physical reactions, raising ethical and constitutional concerns about the method.
- Louisiana officials defended the execution as justice for the victim's family, while critics highlighted the secrecy surrounding the protocol and broader debates over the death penalty.