Alabama AG opposes clemency ahead of execution: ‘Victims are the people I keep in mind’

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has declared his firm opposition to any clemency for Jeffery Lee, who is scheduled for execution later this week. Despite a clemency petition filed by Lee’s legal team, Governor Kay Ivey’s office has confirmed that the state intends to proceed with the execution as planned.

The Case Against Jeffery Lee

Lee, 49, is slated to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia this Thursday. His death sentence stems from the 1998 murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a pawn shop robbery in Dallas County, where Lee was also convicted of the attempted murder of Helen King.

Marshall addressed the upcoming execution in a Monday statement, expressing frustration that public discourse often centers on the convict rather than the victims. “Over time, it can be easy to look at these convicted murderers as old men rather than as the killers they were when they stole the lives of their victims and terrorized their communities,” Marshall said. He emphasized that he remains focused on the lives and futures of Ellis and Thompson, which were cut short by Lee’s actions.

The Judicial Override Debate

Supporters of clemency, including the Catholic Mobilizing Network, point to the fact that Lee’s jury originally voted 7-5 in favor of life imprisonment without parole. The presiding judge subsequently overrode that verdict to impose the death penalty. While Alabama outlawed judicial override in 2017 under Governor Ivey, that legislation does not apply retroactively to cases tried before it was enacted.

In a recent op-ed, retired Brig. Gen. Carlton Fisher, a former chaplain for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, argued that the state should honor the jury’s initial decision. Fisher noted that the lack of retroactivity for the 2017 law is the deciding factor in whether Lee lives or dies.

If carried out, Lee would follow Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was executed in January 2024 after his own sentence was the result of a judicial override.

Governor Ivey’s Clemency History

While Ivey has commuted two death sentences during her tenure, Marshall has consistently opposed these decisions. In February 2025, she granted clemency to Rocky Myers, citing significant questions regarding his guilt in the 1991 stabbing of Ludie Mae Tucker.

More recently, Ivey commuted the sentence of Charles Lee “Sonny” Burton in March. Burton, who faced execution for the 1991 murder of Doug Battle, was not the individual who pulled the trigger. The governor noted that proceeding with his execution while the actual triggerman received a life sentence would be unjust.

In both previous cases, the sentences were commuted to life without parole, meaning the prisoners remain incarcerated for life. In his statement, Marshall criticized 205focus.com and the ACLU, characterizing them as activists advocating for the release of dangerous criminals. He maintained his stance that carrying out the original sentence is the only way to achieve justice for the victims of the 1998 pawn shop robbery.