Arkansas prisoner is pleading for quick execution, but other inmates have sued to stop it. Here is what's happening

A death row prisoner in Arkansas is pleading with authorities to kill him as soon as possible. He doesn't care what the method of execution is and is even ready to be put to death by a firing squad or in an electric chair. However, his death pleas are not being met because 10 other inmates are against the execution method that will be used. They have filed a lawsuit against Arkansas for its use of nitrogen hypoxia for execution after its new authorisation went into effect on August 5. Scotty Gardner was given the death sentence in 2018 for strangling his girlfriend with a curling iron cord and stealing her things to gamble at a casino. Before that, he repeatedly shot his pregnant ex-wife in 1990 and served time for attempted murder. Now, Gardner is urging officials for swift death because of his shoddy living conditions. Arkansas has not executed anyone since 2017. Also Read: What is 'Bela'? Donald Trump’s mysterious 'covfefe-esque' four-letter post leaves netizens confused

“Bugs, mould” in his cell are pushing Gardner to ask for death

He wrote an email to USA Today, stating that he wants to leave "his cave", which is a mouldy cell, poor plumbing with bugs crawling in and out of a sink and a drain. He also reached out to the Arkansas State Supreme Court in 2025, urging them to "set a date and let’s do it". He had also written to the authorities in 2020, saying that he would be fine with any form of execution, including the firing squad or electric chair. But the use of nitrogen hypoxia has complicated matters and stood as a hurdle between Gardner and death. Heather Fraley, an attorney for several of the plaintiffs, said in a press release, "Arkansas juries explicitly sentenced our clients to execution by lethal injection – not gas – and the General Assembly cannot rewrite those verdicts to impose death by this very different and highly problematic method." Also Read: Louisiana carries out state’s first nitrogen gas execution

Three prisoners in Alabama have been previously executed by nitrogen. Louisiana and Mississippi are the other states that permit nitrogen hypoxia for executions in the face of limited drug availability for death by lethal injection. The process involved placing a mask on the inmate and pumping nitrogen gas into the body to replace the oxygen, ultimately suffocating the person.