March 19 (UPI) -- Louisiana has carried out its first nitrogen hypoxia execution and its first execution in 15 years, killing Jessie Hoffman Jr. on Tuesday night for the 1996 kidnapping, rape and murder of a 28-year-old woman.

Louisiana has carried out its first execution using nitrogen gas, marking the state's return to capital punishment after a 15-year hiatus. The method, previously used only in Alabama, has sparked controversy, with opponents arguing it may cause undue suffering.

Four states — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma — specifically authorize execution by nitrogen hypoxia

Louisiana used nitrogen gas to put a man to death Tuesday evening for a killing decades ago, marking the first time the state has used the method as it resumed executions after a 15-year hiatus.

A death row inmate in the US state of Louisiana was executed on Tuesday using nitrogen inhalation, a method previously employed only in Alabama, for the first time after a 15-year hiatus.Jessi...

A death row inmate in the US state of Louisiana was execute by nitrogen inhalation.

A Louisiana death row inmate has been executed using nitrogen gas - marking only the fifth time it has been used on a prisoner in US history.

Louisiana used nitrogen gas to put a man to death Tuesday evening for a killing decades ago, marking the first time the state has used the method as it resumed executions after a 15-year hiatus. Jessie Hoffman Jr., 46, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, authorities said, adding the nitrogen gas had flowed for 19 minutes during what one official characterized as a “flawless” execution. Witnesses to the execution said Hoffman appeared to involuntarily shake or had "some convulsive activity.”