Alabama executes Jeffery Lee by lethal injection after Supreme Court blocked nitrogen gas method
From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.
Jeffery Lee was put to death by lethal injection after the Supreme Court blocked Alabama's planned nitrogen gas execution 6-3, despite his jury having originally voted 7-5 to spare his life.
Alabama has put Jeffery Lee to death by lethal injection for the 1998 pawnshop murders of Elvis impersonator Jimmy Ellis and employee Elaine Thompson — months after a judge ruled the state's planned nitrogen gas execution unconstitutional. The Supreme Court upheld that block 6-3, forcing the state to switch methods. Lee had spent 26 years on death row despite his jury voting 7-5 to spare his life, a sentence a judge then overrode.
Back in 2018, Lee had consented to nitrogen gas as his execution method at a time when Alabama had yet to develop the capability to carry it out.
Witnesses to Alabama's nitrogen gas executions described them as 'the awfullest thing I've ever seen', with one lasting 15 minutes longer than expected.
Governor Ivey refused clemency and the Supreme Court denied a last-minute halt, sealing Lee's fate.
