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Alan Miller was executed on Thursday at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Miller becomes the second person in the United States to be put to death using nitrogen gas. From start to finish, the entire event lasted nearly 16 minutes. I was granted permission to be a witness for the state. Photographer Jeff Battle and I arrived at a media center about a mile across the road from the prison at 2 p.m. We immediately faced law enforcement, who checked our names on the list and allowed us to park outside the small white building. As we walked inside, we saw a metal detector and several tables �� with one in the very back full of snacks. We immediately put our gear down at one of the tables and then waited for several hours.Just before 5 p.m., prison officials released a detailed account of how the condemned killer spent his last 24 hours. On Wednesday, Sept. 25, two of Miller’s sisters, his brother, brother-in-law, a spiritual advisor and two of his attorneys spent the day with him. Throughout the day, he ate two sandwiches, pizza, a burrito, and drank sodas and water. He had no phone calls.On the day of his execution, Miller spent his final hours with his family, attorneys and the spiritual advisor. The inmate’s final meal was a hamburger steak, baked potato and French fries.>> �������� 13 ON-THE-GO: Download our app for freeHis friend, two sisters, brother and two attorneys would be witnesses to his execution. None of the victims' families would be in attendance. Just after 5 p.m., prison officials gave the signal it was time to head to the prison.We were instructed to leave our phones and take off our watches. We walked through the metal detector and walked out the media center door into a prison van that was waiting outside. Two correctional officers sat in the front.With a police escort, the van headed down a road that led to a guard post and sign signaling the entrance to Holman Correctional Facility �� the only thing indicating that somewhere behind the tree line and the beds of grass and flowers near the road, there was a prison.The road past the guard post into the prison was surrounded by trees and what appeared to be a small lake.Once up a small hill, the barbed wire and fence came into view. The gate opened for the van and we came to a stop at another small guard post for another security check.We loaded out of the car, and a female correctional officer called us in, two at a time, behind a curtain to check our shoes for contraband. We then walked through another metal detector and out the front door of the guard post.We were led back into the van, where another gate opened. We were finally inside the Holman Correctional Facility.The van came to a stop in front of a group of trailers. We were led into one that served as a waiting area. There, we were given notepads and pens to document what we were about to see. It was another 30 minutes before we were told it was time for the execution.When we walked out of the trailer, we joined Miller's witnesses. From there, our group walked a short distance of what was almost like a maze of high fences of barbed wire. It was a quiet walk.A correctional officer was holding the door open into the execution building and another correctional officer held the door open to the actual room.We entered the execution chamber viewing room in a single file line. Miller's personal witnesses went first and filled the entire first row closest to the glass and half of the second row. I was seated on the right in the back.The room was very small and dark. Our group filled the 11 seats inside. Only a small orange light came from a corner of the room. On the wall were two signs that read "stay seated and quiet.">> THE LATEST: Headlines and weather from �������� 13Our chairs faced a large glass window that was covered by a black curtain. I could see near the space in the railing people moving back and forth and heard the murmur of voices coming from behind the glass.The only sound inside the viewing area was from one female witness, an attorney of Miller's, who was pregnant and crying. I could see her reflection in the glass. At 6:12 p.m., the curtain opened.I saw Miller laying on the gurney horizontal to the glass, almost at an angle but propped up slightly. He was restrained with a white sheet tucked in tight around his body from his midsection down to his legs. His arms were extended out and restrained at the wrists. A gas mask was on his face. Two correctional officers stood behind him, one on each side.At 6:13 p.m., the prison warden read his death warrant before asking Miller if he had any last words. When the microphone was brought to Miller's face, he said through the mask "I didn’t do anything to be in here.�� He asked his family and friends in the room to take care of someone, but it I couldn’t hear his specific request. Miller ended with “I didn’t do anything to be on death row�� and then said thank you.At 6:16 p.m., a correctional officer inside the execution chamber checked the seal of the gas mask on Miller’s face and shut the mask valve, which had been opened for him to speak. I heard a beep through the prison walls.At 6:17 p.m., Miller closed his eyes as his spiritual advisor approached him and touched his leg, reading what appeared to be Bible verses. He also prayed over Miller.At 6:18 p.m., the gas started to flow. This is when Miller began to take deep breaths. He lifted his head off the gurney several times and struggled against the restraints. He was trembling and shaking. Those movements continued for roughly two minutes. At 6:19 p.m., Miller appeared to lose consciousness but the movements continued. Everyone in the room was completely silent. At 6:20, Miller gasped, and his head moved. At 6:21, Miller took a large gasp for air. At 6:22, another smaller gasp. For the next two to three minutes, Miller continued to periodically gasp for air and lift his head from the gurney. At 6:26, he appeared to take his last breath before becoming completely still.Six minutes later, the curtain closed. We followed a guard back to the prison transport van that was waiting right outside the building door. Alan Miller was pronounced dead at 6:38 p.m.As we left the facility, I could see a police vehicle blocking the main road so we could be taken back to the media center. Ten minutes after arriving back to where my photographer was waiting, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm arrived to speak to reporters.Hamm was asked about Miller's shaking to which he responded, “There’s going to be involuntary body movements as the body is depleted of oxygen, so that was nothing we did not expect." The nitrogen gas flowed for 15 minutes, Hamm said. "Everything went according to plan and according to our protocol," Hamm said. In a statement, state Attorney General Steve Marshall said “justice has been served.��