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Alabama Sets an Execution by Nitrogen Gas for Man Convicted of Killing Two People During Robbery

On Wednesday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey set a June 11 execution date for Jeffery James Lee, 49, scheduled for nitrogen gas execution between midnight and 6 a.m. on June 12.
Lee was convicted of killing Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson in Orrville 27 years ago, though a jury voted 7-5 for life imprisonment before a judge overrode that recommendation and imposed death.
Nitrogen hypoxia involves a gas mask replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen, a method Alabama first used in 2024 to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith, with limited use nationally since then.
Lee has an ongoing federal lawsuit challenging nitrogen hypoxia as unconstitutional, with a bench trial scheduled for April 27 to address claims the method violates the ban on cruel punishment.
Should Lee's execution proceed as planned, it will mark Alabama's first execution of 2026, though Gov. Ivey recently granted clemency to Charles 'Sonny' Burton just days before his scheduled execution.

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Lawyers attempt to stall execution as 'humaneness' of nitrogen method questioned

Jeffery James Lee was convicted of killing two people while robbing a pawn shop in 1998 - his lawyers have attempted to stall his execution while an ongoing federal lawsuit challenges the humaneness of the nitrogen execution method

18 hours ago·London, United Kingdom

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