Alabama carried out the execution of James Barber on Friday morning after the death row inmateâs request for a stay was rejected by the United States Supreme Court. Barber was sentenced to death over the 2001 murder of Dorothy Epps, 75. Throughout his appeals process, Barber argued that being executed by lethal injection could lead to a violation of his constitutional rights in the wake of three allegedly botched executions in Alabama last year. Gov. Kay Ivey last year asked for executions in the state to be halted while a review was carried out into the stateâs lethal injections protocols but gave the nod for executions to resume in February. Barber had instead asked to be killed using nitrogen gas, which is legal under Alabama law but has never been used. His request was denied, and he died at 1:56 a.m CT at the the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, according to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. âJustice has been served,â Marshall said in a statement.
