On October 23rd, 2025, after spending more than 30 years on death row, Anthony Todd Boyd was executed by nitrogen gas at William C. Holman State Prison in Alabama [music] for a gruesome murder over a mere $50. In this video, I’ll tell you what happened that day, what his last meal was, and what [music] his final words were before his death.
On the afternoon of July 31st, 1993, Anthony Todd Boyd, a 21-year-old with no significant criminal record, became involved in one of the most brutal crimes in Talladega County, Alabama. All over a debt of just $200. Around 5:30 p.m., Boyd was near some apartments in Anniston. From there, he contacted his group, with whom he had been selling drugs in the area for months.
The group consisted of four young men who, despite their age, were already deeply involved in the drug trade. For weeks, they had been angry with an addict named Gregory Huguley, who owed them $200 for a cocaine purchase. That afternoon, they decided they had had enough. The group, Anthony Boyd, Glenn Addy, Shawn Ingram, Marcel Ackles, and Quinte Cox, gathered with a single goal, to settle Huguley’s debt.
Cox brought along a MAC-11 automatic pistol, and together, they got into a blue van rented by Ackles. With the weapon ready and anger boiling, they began driving through the streets of Anniston searching for Huguley. When they finally found him, it was Ingram who got out of the vehicle armed. He pointed the gun at Huguley and forced him into the van, while Huguley pleaded through tears, “Please, don’t kill me.
” Without hesitation, they shoved him inside and drove off. Huguley begged for more time, promising he would pay his debt, but he had no money at that moment. His pleas went unanswered. After kidnapping him, the group stopped at a gas station, where Ackles bought gasoline in a plastic container.
They then drove to a baseball field in Munford, a rural area of Talladega County. Between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m., as darkness began to fall, Ingram ordered Huguley to lie down on a bench. According to Quinte Cox, who would later become a key prosecution witness in exchange for a reduced sentence, Ackles tied Huguley’s hands and mouth with duct tape, while Boyd held his feet to the bench.
Ingram then poured gasoline over Huguley’s body, created a trail of fuel a few feet away, and ignited it with a match. The flames spread immediately. The group watched motionless for 10 to 15 minutes as Huguley burned alive, desperately trying to roll off the bench, until he finally stopped moving. Gregory Huguley’s body was discovered the following day, on August 1st, 1993.
It lay beneath a tree in the same Munford baseball field, completely burned. The scene was harrowing. Investigators were able to identify him through the fingerprints that remained on some of his fingers, confirming that it was indeed [music] Gregory Huguley. Weeks after the murder, in September 1993, Talladega County authorities went to Boyd’s home to question him.
His younger brother, Maurice, only 8 years old at the time, recalled how their mother begged Anthony not to speak with the police, but Boyd, confident he had nothing to hide, agreed to go voluntarily. He never returned home. Anthony Todd Boyd’s trial began in March 1995 in Talladega County. The case was led by District Attorney Robert Rumsey.
The key testimony came from Quinte Cox, one of Boyd’s co-defendants, who signed an agreement with the prosecution to avoid the death penalty. Initially, Cox refused to testify, exercising his constitutional right, but Judge Jerry Fielding, D.A. Robert Rumsey, and even his own attorneys pressured him intensely.
They warned that if he did not cooperate, he could face the electric chair. After long hours of hearings, Cox relented and agreed to testify against Boyd in exchange for a life sentence with the possibility of parole. Boyd was just 23 years old when he faced the jury. His defense attorney, Public Defender William Willingham, centered the defense on an alibi.
Several witnesses claimed Boyd had attended a birthday party in Anniston on the night of July 31st, and then spent the night at a motel with [music] his girlfriend. However, Willingham failed to call all available witnesses >> [music] >> and did not thoroughly explore other lines of defense, leaving the case mired in doubt and disorganization.
Rumsey, meanwhile, relied on Alabama’s felony murder law, arguing that Boyd was equally responsible for Huguley’s death, even if he hadn’t lit the match himself. He explained to the jury with a simple analogy. In a bank robbery, if three people participate and one stays in the car, while the other two go inside to commit the robbery, the driver is just as guilty as those who go in.
After only 3 days of trial, the jury found Boyd guilty of capital murder during a kidnapping. The sentencing vote was 10 to 2 in favor of the death penalty. At that time, [music] Alabama and Florida were the only states that allowed death sentences without a unanimous jury. With tears in his eyes, Boyd told the Anniston Star, “I will maintain my innocence until the day I die, which I suppose will be in the electric chair.
” The other participants faced very different [music] fates. Shawn Ingram, the only one armed, who dragged Huguley, poured gasoline, and set him on fire, was also sentenced to death. His jury voted 11 to 1 in favor of the death penalty, and he remains on Alabama’s death row today. Marcel Ackles, who had rented the van and purchased the gasoline, was sentenced to life without parole.
Quinte Cox, the prosecution’s star witness and a key figure in Boyd’s conviction, received life with the possibility of parole as part of his deal. He served only 16 years and was released in 2009. Notably, of all the criminals involved, Cox is the only one whose photo was removed from Alabama’s prison database online.
Anthony Todd Boyd spent more than 30 years on Alabama’s death row at Holman Prison, steadfastly maintaining his innocence throughout. During his incarceration, he became a leader within Project Hope to abolish the death penalty, an organization founded and run by death row inmates in Alabama since 1989. His family never stopped fighting for him.
His younger brother, Maurice, only 8 years old when Anthony was arrested, spent three decades defending him. He didn’t kill nobody. He did not. Please, can’t somebody have compassion and not do this to him? If you could only know him, you would know he is not a bad person. And if anything happened, it was not his will, his fault. And in fact, he’s supposed to be innocent until you’re proven guilty.
But they already had tried to convicted him before he even went to trial. And it’s not fair. Boyd’s appellate lawyers argued for years that the trial was rife with irregularities. They pointed out that his defense attorney, Willingham, failed to properly investigate witnesses who could have corroborated Boyd’s alibi or challenged other parts of the prosecution’s narrative.
For instance, some witnesses remembered that Ackles was [music] out of town at the time Cox claimed Huguley was killed. In August 2025, Alabama set Boyd’s execution date for October 23rd, 2025, to be carried out by nitrogen hypoxia, an experimental method that had only been used three times previously in US history, all in Alabama.
In the days leading up to his scheduled execution, Boyd made a desperate public plea to Governor Ivey requesting a personal meeting. In a recorded statement shared at a press conference in Alabama on October 21st, 2025, he said, “Before an innocent man is executed, come sit with me and have a conversation with the guy you considered one of the worst of the worst.
” I want people to know that the people on death row are not the monsters that the public or the justice system portrays. You have to know the story behind the story. He offered the governor a deal. “If you perceive any dishonesty or evasion on my part during our discussion, then please carry out the sentence.
But if not, I ask you to stop this execution, to halt it, so that my case can be fully and fairly investigated.” Mike Lewis, spokesperson for Governor Ivey, responded via email. “At this time, however, we have not seen any recent judicial filing challenging Mr. Boyd’s guilt in the horrific murder by burning of Gregory Huguley. Nor have we received a clemency request to that effect.
” Lewis added that the governor’s review process does not include private meetings with inmates and described Boyd’s request as particularly impractical. The Republican governor has only halted one execution since taking office in 2017. On Wednesday, two days before his execution, Boyd spent time with his daughter, his brother, and a friend. He also spoke on the phone with two friends, his brother, and his spiritual adviser.
During the day, he was seen eating a cheeseburger, a Reese’s Cup, >> [music] >> popcorn, Skittles, Starburst, and Fritos corn chips with barbecue sauce. To drink, he chose a strawberry Sunkist, Dole lemonade, water, and orange V8 Splash, and coffee. On October 23rd, [music] the day of his execution, Boyd received visits from two of his daughters, three friends, his mother, his brother, his son-in-law, and his spiritual adviser.
He also spoke on the phone with his brother and a friend. He accepted his breakfast that morning, but refused both lunch and dinner. He did not request a last meal. Ultimately, Anthony Todd Boyd was executed by nitrogen hypoxia on October 23rd, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. at William C. Holman State Prison [music] in Atmore, Alabama.
He was 54 years old at the time of his death. >> [music] >> Tied to the gurney with a blue gas mask covering his face, Anthony Boyd’s execution began at 5:56 p.m. According to witnesses, Boyd kept his eyes open, swallowed saliva, and struggled to breathe during the first few minutes. His head moved from side to side, he clenched his left fist, and foam appeared around his mouth.
By 6:01 p.m., his [music] breathing had slowed with long pauses until he became motionless shortly after 6:07 p.m. He was officially pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. When asked if he had any final words, Anthony Boyd said, “I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t participate in killing anybody. There can be no justice until we change this system.
Let’s get it.” His final moments marked the end of a long and controversial legal battle, one that raised serious questions about the justice system, execution methods, and the ongoing debate surrounding capital punishment. What are your thoughts on his case? Share your opinions in the comments below.
