Florence, Arizona - A 53-year-old man convicted of murder was put to death by lethal injection in Arizona on Wednesday in the first execution in the state in more than two years.

Aaron Gunches, who had dropped legal efforts to halt his execution, was sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of Ted Price, his girlfriend's ex-husband.

"Justice for Ted Price and his family was finally served," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told reporters following the execution at a state prison in Florence, Arizona.

Media witnesses said Gunches was placed on a gurney in the death chamber, and restraints were put on his arms and legs.

Justice Louisiana executes Jessie Hoffman by nitrogen inhalation

Asked if he had any last words, Gunches shook his head to say no.

Intravenous lines were then inserted into his arms, and Gunches breathed heavily several times after the drugs began to flow, the witnesses said.

He lost consciousness, and his chest stopped moving several minutes later. Gunches was the first prisoner put to death in Arizona since November 2022.

Problems with administering lethal injections in previous executions led to a suspension of capital punishments while a review was conducted.

John Barcello, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, said Gunches's execution went as planned.

"By all accounts, the process went according to plan without any incident at all," Barcello told reporters.

Gunches was executed one day after a 46-year-old man convicted of rape and murder was put to death by nitrogen gas in Louisiana.

Jessie Hoffman, who was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Molly Elliott, a 28-year-old advertising executive, was the first person executed in Louisiana in 15 years.

Only one other state, Alabama, has carried out executions by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.

The method has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane.