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Alabama death row inmate Demetrius Frazier became the first person executed while in the custody of the state of Michigan Thursday night.�������� 13's Gladys Bautista witnessed the execution firsthand. She said Frazier spoke for about a minute when asked if he had any last words, first apologizing to the friends and family of Pauline brown."What happened to Pauline brown should have never happened," he said. "Detroit strong. I love everybody on death row. Let's go," he continued.The gas started to flow shortly after. At about 6:11 p.m., Frazier started waving his hands in circles toward his body. About a minute later, his hands stopped moving.At approximately 6:12 p.m., Frazier clenched his face and his nostrils flared, while his hands quivered. His legs slightly lifted up off the gurney and he gasped. He had sporadic gasping and shallow breathing until about 6:20 p.m. The curtains closed at 6:29 p.m.Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said the gas flowed for about 18 minutes. Instruments indicated that Frazier no longer had a heartbeat 13 minutes after the gas started.Frazier's time of death was 6:36 p.m. Video below: ADOC officials provide an update following the execution“In Alabama, we enforce the law," said Gov. Kay Ivey. "You don’t come to our state and mess with our citizens and get away with it. Rapists and murderers are not welcome on our streets, and tonight, justice was carried out for Pauline Brown and her loved ones. I pray for her family that all these years later, they can continue healing and have assurance that Demetrius Frazier cannot harm anyone else.”In his final hours, Frazier had seven visitors and one phone call. He refused his breakfast, lunch, and dinner trays but requested a final meal of burritos, chicken chalupa, tacos, chips and dip and Mountain Dew."For more than three decades, the family of Pauline Brown has waited for justice," said Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. "Tonight, that wait is over. Demetrius Frazier was a monster who brutally took the lives of two innocent women and left behind a trail of unspeakable violence. For the crimes he committed in Alabama, he was fairly and appropriately punished. While nothing can erase the agony he inflicted, I pray that this brings closure to those who loved Pauline and have endured the painfully slow wheels of justice for so many years."Prior to his death, Frazier's lawyers argued he actually belonged in Michigan, but the state's Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, took no action despite numerous pleas from family members and activists alike.Read the full response here.The United States District Court said the case was similar to a previous instance when then-United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions allowed the execution of Walter Leroy Moody, who was in the legal custody of the United States. At the time, he said that he did “not object to Alabama retaining custody of Mr. Moody for the purpose of carrying out the death sentence," according to court documents.Michigan's Department of Corrections stated similar notions in the court documents."By disclaiming any interest in Mr. Frazier’s physical custody (while retaining legal custody) and relying on Moody, Director Washington and General Nessel have condoned Mr. Frazier’s death by nitrogen gas suffocation," the documents state.Frazier was the state's first execution of the year and its fourth execution by means of nitrogen hypoxia.Alabama was the first in the nation to utilize the controversial execution method, described as a "human experiment" by some detractors, having done so a total of three times since January of 2024. Attorneys for Frazier previously sued to block the state from carrying out his execution unless the state made changes to the protocol. His lawyers argued that nitrogen gas causes “conscious suffocation�� and that earlier nitrogen executions did not result in swift unconsciousness and death.Video below: Legal experts argue inmates' human rights after first historic nitrogen hypoxia deathFrazier's case In early 1992, a then 19-year-old Frazier was arrested in Detroit, Michigan, where he was ultimately convicted of murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct and armed robbery. Each charge came with a life sentence, according to court documents.While in custody, he made statements referring to his role in the death of an Alabama woman and eventually confessed to the murder of Pauline Brown in Birmingham months prior. Frazier was indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury for Brown's murder in November of 1993. Roughly two years later, Alabama was granted temporary custody of Frazier by the Michigan Department of Corrections so he could stand trial.On June 5, 1996, Frazier was convicted of one count of Capital murder and one count of murder. Two days later, the jury recommended the death sentence by a vote of 10-2.Who had custody?Frazier was soon returned to Michigan where he spent the next 15 years, but an executive agreement signed by then-governors Robert Bentley of Alabama and Rick Snyder of Michigan in 2011 would see him taken back to Alabama.Frazier's attorneys argued that Bentley and Snyder's agreement caused him to be "held unlawfully in the physical custody of the wrong sovereign" and is "void, entered without lawful authority, and violates the IAD and the Due Process Clause."According to the state's constitution, the governor of Michigan's ability to enter into agreements with other governments is limited and subject to "provisions of general law" unless "otherwise provided in this constitution. As Michigan declared the death penalty unconstitutional in 1963, specifically declaring that "no law shall be enacted providing for the penalty of death, Frazier's attorneys claim that Gov. Snyder acted without lawful authority when signing him over to Alabama.The lawsuit further argued that Frazier is still technically in legal custody of MDOC as state law requires him to serve out his sentences in-state.Frazier's attorneys reached out to current Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer last November, imploring her to have him extradited back to the state, claiming that Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey would have "no choice" but to turn him over as compliance with the U.S. constitution's extradition clause is not discretionary.According to the suit, a staff member for Governor Whitmer notified Mr. Frazier's counsel that she would not act on his request at that time.An Alabama Department of Corrections Inmate Summary lists Frazier as "borrowed" from MDOC; MDOC's website still has him listed as a current prisoner.A Mother's PleaFrazier’s mother also desperately pleaded for the Michigan governor to bring her son back to the state to finish serving his life sentence there. Carol Frazier wrote a letter to ask for the governor’s support and waited in the lobby of her office to hand-deliver it.“I feel like Gov. Whitmer does have the power to bring my son back,�� Carol Frazier said, “and I would like for her to read my letter that I have for her. I would like for her to listen to me as a mother.”The letter was ultimately given to Whitmer's receptionist.Frazier reiterated her plea to �������� 13's Gladys Bautista the night before his death, saying that while she knows he did "terrible things" she still loves him dearly. She said his multiple life sentences in Michigan should have been "enough torture." The Associated Press contributed to this report.