Alabama will execute a man by lethal injection on Wednesday night, three months after a judge halted the execution by nitrogen gas.
Execution Details
Jeffrey Lee, 49, is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in southern Alabama. He was convicted of killing two people during a robbery at a pawn shop in Dallas County in 1998.
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The state initially planned to execute Lee on June 11 using gas. But after a judge halted that plan, the Alabama Attorney General's office immediately filed documents to set a new execution date for Lee, this time by lethal injection.
Efforts to Save Lee
Lee and his supporters have made last-ditch efforts to save him, pointing out that the jury in his case recommended life imprisonment, which the judge rejected. His lawyers also argued in court that the state should not be legally allowed to change execution methods.
Twenty-six inmates have been executed this year in the United States, including a man from Texas who was sentenced to lethal injection for a triple murder conviction. Elsewhere, a judge on Wednesday halted Georgia's plans to execute a man who killed two real estate agents.
Crime History
The two murders occurred on December 12, 1998, at Jimmy's pawn shop in Orville, a small town in west Selma, Alabama. Jimmy Ellis, the shop owner, and Elaine Thompson, one of the shop employees, were shot dead. Another employee survived by pretending to be dead.
A live witness testified that Lee entered the shop, asked to see wedding rings, and said he would return after getting money from his grandmother. Lee returned shortly with a shotgun and attacked Ellis, Thompson, and the other employee. The live witness fell to the ground and pretended to be dead, calling 911 after Lee left the shop.
Lee was convicted of murder and attempted murder in 2000. He is one of about two dozen people on Alabama's death row who have been sentenced to death despite the jury's recommendation for life imprisonment.
The jury that convicted Lee of murder voted 7-5 to recommend life imprisonment without parole, but the judge rejected that and sentenced him to death.
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Source: abcnews.com
