Alabama killer Jeffrey Lee executed for 1998 double murder at pawnshop

Key Points:

• Alabama executed Jeffery Lee by lethal injection for a 1998 double murder, following a judge's ruling that blocked the state's use of nitrogen gas as an execution method. Lee was pronounced dead at William C. Holman Correctional Facility, marking Alabama's second execution of the year.
• Lee was convicted of killing Jimmy Ellis, the owner of Jimmy’s Pawn Shop, and employee Elaine Thompson during a robbery; another employee survived by playing dead. The jury initially recommended a life sentence, but a judge overrode this and sentenced Lee to death.
• The execution was delayed 98 days after a judge ruled that Alabama's nitrogen gas execution method violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The US Supreme Court declined to lift this ruling, prompting the state to switch to lethal injection.
• Lee's attorneys and supporters unsuccessfully sought clemency, citing the judicial override of the jury's life sentence recommendation and the non-retroactive abolition of judicial override in Alabama. Governor Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall supported the execution, emphasizing justice for the victims.
• The US Supreme Court denied Lee's last-minute request to stay the execution to challenge the switch back to lethal injection. Alabama began using nitrogen gas in 2024 due to difficulties procuring lethal injection drugs, but lethal injection remains the state's primary execution method.