ATMORE — The U.S. Supreme Court has officially barred the State of Alabama from carrying out the nitrogen hypoxia execution of Jeffery Lee,49, after a down-to-the-wire decision upholding an earlier ruling by a district court and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Emily Marks barred the State from carrying out the planned execution, holding that nitrogen hypoxia violated the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. She also stated that Lee's preferred method of execution by firing squad would be feasible for the State to accommodate.
A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the state's attempts to override Marks's ruling on Wednesday night. Leading the state to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Members of the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) stood by late into Thursday evening, awaiting SCOTUS's decision. The ruling came in just after 8 p.m., stating that the majority of the Supreme Court ruled that it would not grant the state's request to vacate Marks's ruling.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented, stating they would have granted the state's request.
ADOC announced that the execution had been canceled shortly after and did not have a statement for the press.
Shortly after the court's decision, Attorney General Steve Marshall expressed extreme dissapointment.
"Tonight's ruling is a miscarriage of justice, not for us, but for Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson, who Jeffery Lee brutally and senselessly murdered and left on the floor of their place of business," Marshall said. "Tonight I am also keeping their families in mind, many of whom were prepared to witness the final act of justice be served."
"I want their families to know that we will never stop seeking justice for Jimmy and Elaine. The State is prepared to do whatever is necessary to see Mr. Lee's lawful sentence carried out."
According to ADOC, Lee was visited in his final 24 hours by his mother, father, sister, son, attorneys and spiritual advisor. He refused breakfast, lunch and dinner trays on Wednesday and Thursday. However, he was observed eating Skittles, potato chips and Twix bars while drinking water and Sprite.
He did not request a last meal.
On Dec. 12, 1998, around noon, Lee entered Jimmy's Pawnshop in the town of Orrville in Dallas County, armed with a sawed-off shotgun. Immediately upon entering the store, he shot Jimmy Ellis. After shooting Ellis, he shot Thompson in the face. Continuing his shooting, he shot another person, Helen King, and shot Ellis again. Thompson and Ellis died as a result of the shotgun blasts.
King survived the shooting after lying motionless on the floor pretending to be dead. Lee unsuccessfully attempted to take the cash register from the store and escaped with two others. A surveillance video captured the murders, and he later confessed after being captured in a Georgia motel.
The jury recommended Lee be sentenced to life in prison. However, the court overruled the recommendation, sentencing him to death and doling out an additional life sentence for the attempted murder of King.
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