Alabama is scheduled to execute Jeffery Lee by lethal injection Thursday evening, three months after a court blocked plans to put him to death using nitrogen gas.
asserted
court → schedule → gas
Lee, 49, is scheduled to be executed beginning at 6 p.m. at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in southern Alabama.
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Lee → schedule → Alabama
He was convicted of killing two people during a 1998 pawn shop robbery in rural Dallas County.
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He → convict → County
The state initially planned to execute Lee using nitrogen gas on June 11.
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state → plan → June
After a judge blocked that method, the Alabama attorney general’s office sought a new execution date using lethal injection.
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office → block → injection
Lee’s attorneys are making a final attempt to stop the execution, pointing to a 7-5 jury vote recommending life in prison without parole that was overridden by the trial judge.
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that → make → judge
They have also asked the Supreme Court to consider whether Alabama can execute Lee by lethal injection after the state previously agreed that, if he were executed, it would be by nitrogen hypoxia.
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it → ask → hypoxia
The murders occurred on Dec. 12, 1998, at Jimmy’s Pawn Shop in Orrville, west of Selma.
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murders → occur → Selma
Prosecutors said Lee entered the store and asked to see wedding rings before leaving and returning with a sawed-off shotgun.
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Lee → say → shotgun
He fatally shot owner Jimmy Ellis and employee Elaine Thompson and also shot a third worker, who survived by pretending to be dead before calling 911 after Lee left.
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Lee → shoot → 911
Ellis had previously attracted national attention as an Elvis Presley impersonator who performed under the stage name “Orion” because of his vocal resemblance to the singer.
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who → attract → singer
His life later became the subject of a 2015 documentary.
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life → become → documentary
Lee was convicted in 2000 of capital murder and attempted murder.
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Lee → convict → murder
Although jurors voted 7-5 for life without parole, the trial judge overrode their recommendation and sentenced Lee to death.
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judge → vote → death
Alabama abolished judicial overrides in 2017, but the change was not retroactive.
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change → abolish → 2017
Lee is among roughly two dozen people on the state’s death row whose juries recommended life before judges imposed death sentences instead.
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judges → recommend → sentences
Supporters seeking clemency for Lee gathered outside the Alabama Capitol on Tuesday carrying signs reading “HONOR THE JURY.”
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Supporters → seek → JURY
Lee’s attorneys are also challenging Alabama’s decision to switch his execution method.
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attorneys → challenge → method
Lee sued over the state’s lethal injection protocol in 2016.
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Lee → sue → 2016
After Alabama authorized nitrogen gas, he selected nitrogen hypoxia and dropped the lawsuit in 2018 after the state agreed that “if he is to be executed,” it would use that method.
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it → authorize → method
His lawyers argue Alabama remains bound by that agreement and cannot now execute him by lethal injection.
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Alabama → argue → injection
They have asked the Supreme Court to stay the execution while it considers the issue.
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it → ask → issue
The Alabama attorney general’s office has argued that nothing prevents the state from changing methods and urged the court to allow the execution to proceed.
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execution → argue → court
“Nearly twenty-eight years is decades too long,” state lawyers wrote.
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lawyers → write → ?
Lethal injection remains Alabama’s primary execution method, although the state began using nitrogen gas in 2024.
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state → remain → 2024
The procedure replaces breathable air with nitrogen through a respirator mask, causing death from oxygen deprivation.
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procedure → replace → deprivation
Nitrogen gas has since been used in seven executions in Alabama and one in Louisiana.
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gas → use → Louisiana
Twenty-six executions have been carried out across the US so far this year.
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executions → carry → US
The Aporia
