Jeffery Lee, 49, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday evening at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama. The sentence carries out the death penalty for a 1998 double murder that claimed the life of Jimmy Ellis, a singer known for his impersonation of Elvis Presley.
The shift in execution method follows a ruling by District Judge Emily Marks, who blocked the use of nitrogen hypoxia as unconstitutional and cruel under the Eighth Amendment. Lee’s original execution date, set for June 11, was canceled due to this decision, which specifically barred the state from utilizing its nitrogen protocol for Lee’s death.
Alabama Attorney General officials quickly filed paperwork requesting a new execution date utilizing lethal injection instead. The state has argued that it should not be bound by previous agreements to use nitrogen, citing the need for justice nearly three decades after the crimes.
Lee was convicted in 2000 for the killings that occurred on December 12, 1998, at Jimmy’s Pawn Shop in Orrville, Dallas County. During the robbery, Ellis and employee Elaine Thompson were shot dead, while another worker survived by feigning death. Witness testimony indicated Lee asked to view wedding rings before returning with a sawed-off shotgun.
Ellis had built a national following as an Elvis impersonator, performing under the masked moniker “Orion” and featured in a 2015 documentary.
Lee’s legal team has mounted a final challenge to the execution. Attorneys argue that the state is contractually bound to use nitrogen hypoxia based on a 2018 agreement where Lee dismissed a lawsuit against the state’s lethal injection protocol in exchange for the guarantee of nitrogen.
Furthermore, supporters have highlighted that the jury in Lee’s case recommended life imprisonment, a decision the trial judge overrode. Alabama allowed judicial override until 2017, but the reform was not applied retroactively, leaving Lee and approximately two dozen other inmates on death row with sentences imposed over jury recommendations.
Clemency supporters rallied outside the Alabama Capitol on Tuesday under a banner reading “HONOR THE JURY.” Lee’s lawyers have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay to determine if the state can legally switch methods.
The U.S. has seen 26 executions this year. While lethal injection remains the primary method nationwide, Alabama began using nitrogen gas in 2024 after drug procurement issues plagued traditional protocols. Nitrogen has now been used in seven executions in Alabama and one in Louisiana, though it faces ongoing criticism from opponents who argue it is poorly understood and potentially painful.
Nitrogen hypoxia was supposed to be the humane alternative, yet courts keep blocking it. The whole death penalty system is deeply broken here.
I’m genuinely curious how lethal injection holds up for him after the nitrogen ruling. Does this change his defense strategy?
Wait, did the jury actually recommend life in prison? That’s wild. The judge overriding it still feels wrong to me.
The whole ‘contract’ angle regarding the nitrogen protocol seems legally shaky. Courts rarely enforce execution method agreements.
It feels incredibly ironic that he killed an Elvis impersonator. Justice really does have a strange sense of humor sometimes.