Alabama to Execute Man by Lethal Injection After Nitrogen Plan Blocked
Jeffery Lee, scheduled for execution Thursday, had his nitrogen gas method barred by a judge earlier this year.
Alabama is scheduled to execute Jeffery Lee by lethal injection Thursday evening, three months after a judge blocked the state's initial plan to use nitrogen gas.
Lee, 49, is set to receive the injection at 6 p.m. at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility for the 1998 murders of two people during a robbery at a pawnshop in rural Dallas County. The state had initially sought to execute Lee on June 11 using nitrogen gas, but after a judge intervened, the Alabama attorney general's office quickly sought a new execution date, this time using lethal injection.
Double Murder at Pawnshop
The killings occurred on Dec. 12, 1998, at Jimmy's Pawn Shop in Orrville. The owner, Jimmy Ellis, and an employee, Elaine Thompson, were shot and killed. A third employee survived by feigning death. The surviving witness testified that Lee entered the store, inquired about wedding rings, and then returned with a shotgun, fatally shooting Ellis and Thompson, and wounding the other employee.
Ellis, who had performed as an Elvis Presley impersonator named "Orion," gained a national following for his music. Lee was convicted in 2000 of capital murder and attempted murder.
Jury Recommendation Overridden
Lee's conviction is among those in Alabama where a jury recommended a sentence of life imprisonment, but the trial judge overrode the jury's decision and imposed a death sentence. In Lee's case, the jury voted 7-5 for life without parole. Alabama abolished judicial override in capital cases in 2017, but the law was not retroactive, leaving Lee and others on death row with sentences imposed under the previous system.
Supporters of Lee held a rally advocating for clemency, urging the governor to honor the jury's original recommendation. However, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kay Ivey stated that the governor has no plans to grant clemency and that the 2017 law was designed to uphold promises to victims' families.
Final Legal Challenges Denied
Lee and his legal team made a final effort to halt the execution, arguing that the state should not be permitted to switch execution methods. They contended that an agreement made in 2018, in which Lee dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state's lethal injection protocol after Alabama agreed to use nitrogen gas if he were to be executed, should be honored.
Lee's lawyers argued that the state could revise its nitrogen protocol or use a firing squad instead. The US Supreme Court denied Lee's request for a stay of execution on Thursday without comment. The court's decision came approximately six hours before the scheduled lethal injection.
The state attorney general's office argued that the execution should proceed, emphasizing that nearly 28 years have passed since the crime and that an unpunished murder harms the rule of law. Lethal injection has been the primary execution method in the U.S. for decades, though issues with drug availability have led states like Alabama to explore alternatives, including nitrogen gas, which has been used in several executions in recent years.