Double killer receives lethal injection execution in Alabama

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed a motion to set Mills’ execution date, writing that “it was time for his death sentence to be carried out.” “There is no doubt that Mills committed those offenses,” he wrote. “Mills’ convictions and sentence are final.” open image in gallery Jamie Ray Mills was executed by the state of Alabama on Thursday The Alabama Supreme Court approved Marshall’s request for execution on March 20, allowing Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to set Thursday’s execution. open image in gallery Kenneth Eugene Smith was put to death by nitrogen gas in January 2024 in Alabama Alabama’s Attorney General disagreed, arguing that Mills’ claims about the validity of his ex-wife’s testimony were “improper, untimely, and meritless,” serving as a way to “further delay the execution.” AG Marshall also defended JoAnn Mills’ testimony and noted her cooperation which earned her a life sentence instead of the death penalty. AG Marshall argued that there was no data to support the claim that Mills could be strapped to a gurney for an “unconstitutionally long time.” The 11th Circuit Court of Criminal Appeals denied two attempts by Mills to halt his execution this week, with two federal judges arguing that he could have brought the information forward “several years ago.” However, Middle District Court judge Emily Marks wrote that the corrections department has been known on “several occasions” to subject inmates to “prolonged executions or execution attempts during which those inmates were unnecessarily strapped to the execution gurney.”