The state of Louisiana just performed its first execution in over a decade.

Jessie Hoffman Jr. was put to death by nitrogen gas Tuesday night (March 18). In 1996 he was convicted for the rape and murder of Mary “Molly” Elliott, a 28-year-old New Orleans woman. He was convicted of kidnapping Elliot before killing her. 

Elliott was in the parking garage of the Sheraton New Orleans parking garage to get her car when Hoffman abducted her. Authorities said Elliott walked nude down a dirt path before forcing her to kneel and shooting her dead on a dock near the Middle Pearl River, KPLC 7 reports.  

Gary Westcott, secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Public Safety and Corrections, said Hoffman was declared dead from nitrogen hypoxia at 6:50 p.m., according to KPLC. 

“It went flawless,” Westcott told the outlet. “It went about as good as we could expect it to be.”

Hoffman is only the fourth American prisoner put to death by nitrogen gas.

“This is the law in Louisiana and we carried out the law of Louisiana,” state Attorney General Liz Murrill said per KPLC. “Molly Elliott’s immediate family members did not oppose this moving forward. They were grateful to have finality. What was frustrating to them was that it took 30 years.” 

Despite being imprisoned, Hoffman still managed to get married. His wife offered remarks following his execution. 

“No execution can erase the truth of who he was -- a beautiful soul who inspired many. ... I am incredibly proud of him -- not just for how he carried himself in these final days, but for the man he became,” Ilona Hoffman, Hoffman’s wife said in a statement,

Hoffman reportedly spent his last day alive with visiting family members and his attorneys. 

“Tonight, the State of Louisiana took the life of Jessie Hoffman, a man who was deeply loved, who brought light to those around him, and who spent nearly three decades proving that people can change,” Caroline Tillman, one of Hoffman’s attorneys, said in a statement. “Louisiana refused to see Jessie for the man he became.”