Overview
- Alabama put Jeffery Lee to death by lethal injection on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, and officials pronounced him dead at 6:22 p.m. Central Time.
- Federal courts had barred the state from using its nitrogen hypoxia procedure after a judge found evidence that it produces up to three minutes of severe air hunger, a ruling the U.S. Supreme Court declined to overturn.
- Lee’s lawyers said the state broke a 2018 settlement in which he chose nitrogen and agreed to drop his lethal‑injection challenge, while the state argued nothing barred it from changing the execution method.
- Lee was sentenced to death after a trial judge overrode a 7‑5 jury recommendation for life; Alabama ended that judicial‑override practice in 2017 but the change did not apply retroactively to his case.
- Supporters urged Gov. Kay Ivey to commute the sentence to honor the jury vote, victims’ relatives sought closure, and advocates warned the case will shape future challenges over execution methods and sentencing fairness.