Death row inmate ordered popular takeaway for his final meal before controversial execution
Topics: Crime, True Crime, Food and Drink, US News
Mia Williams
Featured Image Credit: Alabama Department of Corrections
Topics: Crime, True Crime, Food and Drink, US News
A death row inmate opted for a popular takeaway choice as their final meal before dying by nitrogen gas.
US prisoner Demetrius Terrence Frazier uttered his final words on 6 February, as he was executed by officials following crimes that he had been committing since 1991.
The 52-year-old had been awaiting his death for the majority of his life, after being convicted of murder and rape.
His life was eventually ended with nitrogen gas before a crowd of witnesses - including members of his victims' families.
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But death row inmates - no matter how heinous their crimes - are allowed to pick their 'final meal', which can be anything of their choosing.
It's long been a conversation starter for people all over the world, but for Frazier it was very much a reality.
And the prisoner chose something which would be popular among quite a few people.
Just hours before his death, staff at the jail revealed that Frazier tucked into a Taco Bell.
They added that he paired the Mexican-inspired food with a Mountain Dew soft drink.
Not long later, he was strapped into a chair with a nitrogen mask being attached to his face.
His final words were particularly haunting, as he apologised to his victims.
Frazier said: "I want to apologise to the family and friends of Pauline Brown.
"What happened to her should have never happened."
He then turned his attention to Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer.
The murderer added: "If you cannot stand up for the constitution of Michigan, how are you going to stand up for the US Constitution when you run for president?"
His final words before death were: "Detroit strong, I love everyone on death row.
"Let’s go."
His mask was then closed, and at 6.13pm (local time), the gas began flowing.
Eight minutes later, the curtains to the execution chamber were closed after Frazier appeared to show no visible movement.
He was pronounced dead by staff at 6.36pm.
In a post-execution statement, Kay Ivey - the government of Alabama - announced: "We enforce the law. "You don’t come to our state and mess with our citizens and get away with it."
She added: "Rapists and murderers are not welcome on our streets, and tonight, justice was carried out for Pauline Brown and her loved ones."
Aged just 19, Frazier broke into the Birmingham, Alabama apartment of 40-year-old Pauline Starks Brown with the intention of robbing her home.
He then threatened the mother-of-two and raped her at gunpoint before fatally shooting her in the back of her head and fleeing the scene.
In the years after getting away with his first crime, Frazier moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he also murdered 14-year-old Crystal Kendrick.
After being arrested, Frazier confessed to killing Brown.
In court in 1996, he was also tried and found guilty by a Wayne County jury of two further rapes out of a possible eight.