UMVA has learned that a death row prisoner who was scheduled for execution this week has been granted a temporary reprieve after a federal court ruled Alabama's controversial nitrogen gas execution method unconstitutional.
Jeffrey Lee, 49, was set to become the ninth person in the United States to be executed using nitrogen hypoxia when the stay was issued. From his cell in the William C. Holman Correctional Facility, Lee expressed relief but remains focused on his fight ahead.
The inmate, who has spent nearly three decades on death row for the 1998 murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson, described the ruling as a sigh of relief while maintaining that his journey is far from over.
Prosecutors recount that on December 12, 1998, Lee entered Jimmy's Pawn Shop in Orrville, Alabama, intoxicated and armed with a sawed-off shotgun. He murdered both victims and wounded a third before fleeing to Georgia where he was apprehended the next morning.
Lee confessed to the killings and was originally sentenced to life without parole in 2000. However, that sentence was later overturned through a now-outlawed judicial override practice in Alabama that allowed judges to impose death sentences.
The recent federal court ruling declared Alabama's nitrogen hypoxia protocol violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, effectively halting Lee's execution and casting doubt over the state's entire lethal injection alternative program.
Nitrogen hypoxia works by replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, theoretically causing unconsciousness within seconds. Medical experts have raised serious concerns that the method causes severe air hunger and panic, describing it as potentially worse than pain due to the terror associated with suffocation.
Federal Judge Emily Marks testified during Lee's February hearing that the process could result in extreme emotional distress, anxiety, and fear for inmates facing this form of execution.
Lee had previously filed a lawsuit challenging nitrogen hypoxia in August 2024, just weeks before his scheduled execution. He had also requested execution by firing squad instead, citing concerns about the availability of shooters and accuracy of the method.
His legal team pointed to a controversial firing squad execution in South Carolina where an inmate survived with multiple missed shots to the head, raising questions about the reliability and humanity of such methods.
Alabama pioneered nitrogen hypoxia executions in 2024 with the case of Kenneth Smith, who reportedly took over 20 minutes to die while convulsing on the gurney. Since then, seven other inmates have been executed using this method, with the most recent occurring in April 2025.
The Attorney General's office has vowed to continue pursuing execution through nitrogen hypoxia despite the court ruling, creating a legal battle that will likely determine the future of this execution method in Alabama and potentially across the nation.
For now, Lee remains in custody as legal challenges continue to unfold, with his case becoming a pivotal moment in the ongoing debate over the most humane and constitutional methods of capital punishment.
