Alabama executes Jeffery Lee for 1998 pawnshop murders

Alabama executed 49-year-old Jeffery Lee via lethal injection on Thursday at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Lee was convicted for the December 12, 1998, robbery and double murder at Jimmy’s Pawn Shop in Orrville, where store owner Jimmy Ellis and employee Elaine Thompson were shot and killed.

The execution follows a legal dispute regarding the method of death. A judge had previously blocked the state from using nitrogen gas to execute Lee, prompting the Alabama attorney general’s office to seek a new date using lethal injection. Lee’s legal team had also argued against the state’s ability to switch execution methods and noted that the original jury had recommended life imprisonment, a decision that was overridden by a judge.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a final request for a stay of execution on Thursday. Lee’s death marks the second execution in Alabama this year.