The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) is set to carry out the execution of a convicted murderer in late August after Gov. Kay Ivey recently set the execution date.
Barring any court actions or clemency, David Lee Roberts, 59, will be put to death by nitrogen hypoxia on August 29 at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.
The Alabama Supreme Court approved Roberts's execution earlier this month. Ivey's recent announcement set a thirty-hour timeframe for the execution to occur, beginning at midnight on Thursday, August 21, and expiring at 6:00 a.m. on Friday, August 22.
Roberts has been on death row for over 30 years. According to court records, Roberts shot the girlfriend of a man he was living with on April 22, 1992.
After leaving work that day, Roberts went to his roommate's home, where Annetra Jones, his roommate's girlfriend, was sleeping on a couch. Roberts packed his belongings, stole money from the Jones's wallet and shot her three times in the head with a .22 caliber rifle while she slept.
After the murder, Roberts poured flammable liquid on Jones's body and the rest of the house and set fire to a piece of paper he had placed under the couch. Roberts left the house, taking with him a variety of items, such as the murder weapon and other guns. He hid this evidence, but later led the police to the location where it was hidden.
Roberts admitted to the murder to law enforcement. At the sentencing hearing before the court, Roberts testified that he was sorry about what had happened. He stated that an "older individual" had threatened to kill his parents, that the pressure had built up over time, that he had no one to turn to for help, and that he did what he thought he needed to do at the time. He also testified that the "older individual" told him to burn the house and to shoot Annetra Jones.
The jury recommended that Roberts be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, but the judge overrode that recommendation and sentenced Roberts to death.
Roberts has since raised several challenges to his conviction on appeal, none of which have been successful.
Barring any actions to halt the execution, Roberts will be the fourth person executed by ADOC this year.
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