ATMORE, Ala. – An Alabama inmate convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend decades ago was executed Thursday night despite pleas from the victim’s family to spare his life.
Joe Nathan James Jr. received a lethal injection at a South Alabama prison after the US Supreme Court rejected his request for a stay.
James was convicted and sentenced to death for killing Faith Hall, 26, in Birmingham in 1994. Hall’s daughters said they preferred James to serve life in prison, but Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Wednesday she plans to let the execution continue.
Prosecutors said James briefly dated Hall and became obsessed after she rejected him, stalking and harassing her for months before killing her. On Aug. 15, 1994, after Hall was shopping with a friend, James forced his way into the friend’s apartment, pulled a gun from his waistband and shot Hall three times, according to court documents.
A Jefferson County jury first convicted James of capital murder in 1996 and voted to recommend the death penalty, which a judge imposed. The conviction was overturned when a state appeals court ruled that a judge had improperly admitted some police reports into evidence. James was retried and sentenced to death again in 1999 when jurors rejected defense claims that he was under emotional duress at the time of the shooting.
The execution began a few minutes after 9:00 p.m. CDT after a nearly three-hour delay that the state did not immediately explain. James did not open his eyes or show any visible movements before the execution began. He didn’t move or speak when the warden asked him if he had any last words. His breathing slowed until it became visible and he was pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m.
Hall’s two daughters, who were 3 and 6 when their mother was killed, said recently that they would rather James serve life in prison. Family members are not present at the execution.
“Today is a tragic day for our family. We have to relive the pain it caused us so many years ago,” said a statement issued by State Representative Juandalynn Givan’s office. Givan was a friend of Hall’s.
“We hoped the state would not take a life simply because a life was taken, and we have forgiven Mr. Joe Nathan James Jr. for his atrocities against our family. … We pray that God will allow us to find healing after today and that one day our criminal justice system will listen to the cries of families like ours, even if it goes against the wishes of the state,” the family said in a statement.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said he would not intervene. In a statement Thursday night, Ivey said he deeply respects the feelings of the victim’s family and loved ones, but “he must always fulfill his responsibility to the law, public safety and justice.”
“Faith Hall, the victim of repeated harassment, serious threats and ultimately cold-blooded murder, was taken from this earth far too soon at the hands of Joe Nathan James, Jr. Now, after two convictions, a unanimous jury verdict and almost three decades on death row, Mr. James has been executed for capital murder, and justice has been meted out to Faith Hall.
She said the execution sends “an unmistakable message that Alabama supports victims of domestic violence.”
James acted as his own lawyer in his attempts to stop his execution, mailing handwritten lawsuits and appeals to the courts from the death sentence. An attorney filed the latest appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court on his behalf on Wednesday. But the request for an adjournment was rejected about 30 minutes before the execution was to begin.
James asked the justices for a stay, noting opposition from Hall’s family and arguing that Alabama did not adequately notify inmates of their right to choose an alternative method of execution. He also argued that Ivey’s refusal violated religious freedom laws because the Koran and the Bible “put the concept of forgiveness first in this situation.”
The state argued that James waited too late to begin trying to delay his execution and “should not be rewarded for his transparent attempt to game the system.”
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