ATMORE, Ala. – Alabama executed Jeffery Lee by lethal injection Thursday evening for the 1998 shotgun killings of two people during a robbery at an Orrville pawn shop.
Lee, 49, was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. Sept. 17 at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall cleared the execution to begin at 6:08 p.m.
Lee was convicted of killing Jimmy Ellis, owner of Jimmy’s Pawn Shop, and employee Elaine Thompson on Dec. 12, 1998. A third employee, Helen King, was shot but survived.
According to the state’s account of the case, Lee initially entered the pawn shop saying he wanted to purchase a ring for his girlfriend. He left after telling King he did not have money and would return after getting some from his grandmother.
Lee returned minutes later carrying a sawed-off shotgun. Prosecutors said he shot Ellis, Thompson and King before attempting unsuccessfully to open the cash register. He left the shotgun on the counter when he fled.
Ellis and Thompson died from their wounds. King survived by pretending to be dead until Lee left, then locked the door and called 911. Lee attempted to get back inside but was unable to enter, according to the attorney general’s account.
Lee fled to Newnan, Georgia, and was arrested in Coweta County early the following morning. Authorities said he signed a confession after his arrest. He was convicted in April 2000 of capital murder and attempted murder.
The death sentence had a lengthy and contested history. The jury voted 7-5 to recommend life imprisonment, but the trial judge overrode that recommendation and imposed a death sentence. Alabama abolished judicial override in capital cases in 2017, but the change was not retroactive. Lee’s attorneys cited that history in seeking clemency.
Lee had originally been scheduled for execution by nitrogen hypoxia in June, but a federal judge blocked that method in his case. The state subsequently sought to execute him by lethal injection. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Lee’s final request to stop Thursday’s execution.
Marshall said after the execution that his focus remained on Ellis, Thompson and their families.
“Nothing can give back what was taken from Jimmy and Elaine and their families,” Marshall said.