![Alabama carries out execution of man convicted of murdering elderly couple in 2004 Alabama carries out execution of man convicted of murdering elderly couple in 2004](https://i0.wp.com/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/rockcms/2022-08/220801-William-C-Holman-Correctional-Facility-ac-915p-d5b3ce.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
ATMORE, Alabama — An Alabama man received a lethal injection Thursday for the 2004 murder of an elderly couple, the first inmate executed by the state since it became the first in the nation to execute an inmate using nitrogen gas. months ago.
Jamie Ray Mills, 50, was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. after a three-drug injection at a southwest Alabama prison, authorities said. Lethal injection remains the default method of execution in Alabama unless a condemned inmate requests nitrogen gas or the electric chair.
Mills was convicted of capital murder in the deaths of Floyd Hill, 87, and his wife Vera, 72. Prosecutors said they were attacked on June 24, 2004, with a hammer, a machete and a tire tool in his home, about 80 miles (130 kilometers). ) northwest of Birmingham.
“Tonight, two decades after committing these murders, Jamie Mills has paid the price for his heinous crimes. “I pray for the victims and their loved ones,” Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said in a statement.
As the execution began, Mills gave a thumbs up to family members, who were watching from a witness room, and then mouthed, “I love you” in their direction.
“I love my family. I love my brother and sister. I couldn’t ask for more,” Mills said as she looked in the direction of her brother and sister. She also thanked her attorney, Charlotte Morrison of the Equal Justice Initiative. “Charlotte, you fought hard for me. I love you all. Continue.” Some of his relatives cried softly during the execution.
As the first execution drug, a sedative, flowed, Mills appeared to quickly lose consciousness as a spiritual advisor prayed at the foot of the gurney.
In 2007, a jury convicted Jamie Mills of capital murder and voted 11-1 in favor of the death penalty imposed by a judge.
Floyd Hill was the primary caregiver for his wife, who was diabetic and had health problems. He kept her medications in a tackle box in the couple’s kitchen. The Hills periodically held garage sales to supplement their income. When the couple’s granddaughter could not locate them, officers arrived and found them in pools of blood in the backyard shed where they kept yard sale items. Floyd Hill died from head and neck injuries and Vera Hill died about 12 weeks later from complications of head trauma, according to court documents.
Relatives of the victims witnessed the execution and issued a statement saying that “justice has been done” after a 20-year wait.
“Our family can now give some closure to this heinous crime he committed and our beloved grandparents can rest in peace. Let this be a lesson to those who believe that justice will not find them. Hopefully this will prevent others from committing crimes in the future. God help us all,” the statement from the Hill and Freeman families said.
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At the 2007 trial, JoAnn Mills became the key witness against her common-law husband. She testified that after staying up all night smoking methamphetamine, her husband took her to the victims’ home, where she testified she saw her husband repeatedly punch the couple in the backyard shed, court documents state.
In final appeals, Mills’ attorneys, who maintained his innocence at trial, argued that newly obtained evidence showed that the prosecution lied about having a plea agreement with Mills’ wife to prevent him from seeking the death penalty. death against her if she testified against her husband.
JoAnn Mill’s trial attorney wrote in a February affidavit that before the 2007 trial, she met with the district attorney, who agreed to let her plead guilty to a lesser charge if she testified. On the stand, JoAnn Mills said she just hoped to get “some forgiveness from God” by testifying.
The Equal Justice Initiative said after the execution that prosecutors “lied, deceived and misrepresented the reliability of the evidence against Jamie Mills for 17 years.”
“There will come a day when governments recognize the perverse injustice of this process and the illegality of this punishment. “It will be a day too late for Jamie Mills, making his death tragically unfortunate and woefully unjust,” the statement added.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said there was a wealth of evidence against Mills. “His actions were cold and calculated, and the punishment he was given has never been more deserved,” Marshall said.
On January 25, Alabama executed inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith with nitrogen gas, a first-of-its-kind method that sparked a new debate over capital punishment. The state said the method was humane, but critics called it cruel and experimental.
Smith was executed by breathing pure nitrogen gas through a face mask, resulting in oxygen deprivation. It was the first new method of execution used in the United States since lethal injection, now the most widely used method, was introduced in 1982. Smith was convicted of the contract murder of a preacher’s wife, Elizabeth Sennett, in 1988.
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