Jeffery Lee, 49, is scheduled for execution by lethal injection on Thursday, as clemency efforts continue and opponents cite a jury's original recommendation for life without parole. Lee was convicted in 1998 for the murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a pawn shop robbery in Orrville.
A jury initially recommended Lee be sentenced to life without parole, with a 7-5 vote. His attorneys at the time pointed to Lee’s youth, his two children, and argued he had an intellectual disability. However, Dallas County Circuit Judge Jack Meigs ultimately overruled the jury’s recommendation, imposing a death sentence and writing that Lee “mercilessly” took the victims' lives.
This execution comes amid a renewed focus on judicial override in Alabama. For decades, Alabama allowed judges to override jury recommendations and impose death sentences, being the last state to hold this power. The Alabama Legislature passed a law in 2017 to prohibit this practice, but lawmakers did not make it retroactive. This means individuals sentenced to death through judicial override before the law’s enactment, such as Lee, remain on death row. Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, who sponsored the 2017 law, stated that under current law, if Lee’s trial occurred today with the same jury recommendation, he would not be on death row. Gina Maiola, a spokeswoman for Governor Kay Ivey, responded Wednesday that the 2017 law "made very clear that it would not apply retroactively" and preserved existing death sentences.
Lee was originally scheduled for execution by nitrogen gas. However, a federal court in June imposed an injunction on the state’s protocol for that method following a lawsuit by Lee and a trial. Federal judges cited the potential for unconstitutional levels of pain and Lee’s argument that he could be executed by firing squad, which the state rejected. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed that ruling to stand on June 12. Following this decision, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office filed a motion to execute Lee by lethal injection. Lee, in a recording by his legal team, described the feeling of being alive after the initial stay as if he were "in Lala Land." After learning the state sought another execution date, Lee commented on enjoying the victory but not the "spoils."
Lee’s legal team has since fought the state’s attempt to use lethal injection. They argued that Alabama forfeited its right to use this method after Lee and the state agreed in 2018 to dismiss a 2016 lawsuit Lee brought against lethal injection, at which time Lee agreed to be executed by nitrogen gas. U.S. District Judge Emily Marks ruled against Lee, determining that the facts of the case had changed the 2018 agreement. Lee said in the recording that he felt the state "owe me their word" because of their 2018 agreement. Lee filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on September 11, seeking to stop the execution after the federal district court denied his request to expand the injunction to include lethal injection. Alabama state courts also rejected his request for a stay.
Death penalty opponents have actively pursued clemency for Lee. On Tuesday, they hosted a film screening and delivered a petition signed by more than 8,000 people to Governor Kay Ivey’s office, pleading for her to suspend the execution. Abe Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action, one of the organizations involved, appealed to the governor’s faith, citing, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Governor Ivey has presided over 26 executions during her term. She has commuted two death sentences to life in prison: Rocky Myers in 2025 due to doubts about trial evidence, and Charles “Sonny” Burton earlier this year citing concerns about disparate sentencing. Lee’s supporters emphasize that he does not disregard his role in the incident but believes the judge should not have been allowed to override the jury’s recommendation for a life sentence.
This execution would mark the second conducted by Alabama this year. Jeremy Williams, convicted of the rape and murder of a five-year-old child in Russell County in 2021, was executed on August 13.
