The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday night refused to allow Alabama to execute death row inmate Jeffery Lee by nitrogen gas.
The nation’s highest court halted what would have been the state’s first execution of 2026 just hours before it was scheduled to take place.
Lee, 49, had been scheduled to die at 6 p.m. local time.
Instead, the justices denied Alabama’s emergency request to proceed with the execution.
The court offered no written explanation for its decision.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch indicated they would have granted Alabama’s request and allowed the execution to move forward.
That meant at least six justices declined to intervene on the state’s behalf.
The ruling marked a setback for Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, who expressed disappointment following the decision.
“This evening the U.S. Supreme Court denied the state of Alabama the ability to execute death row inmate Jeffery Lee by nitrogen hypoxia,” Ivey’s office said in a statement.
The Republican governor said she remained committed to seeing justice carried out for the victims.
“While I am disappointed the Supreme Court did not allow the state to proceed … I remain committed to ensuring that justice is ultimately served for his victims,” she said.
Court records show Lee was convicted in connection with a December 1998 attack at a pawnshop in Orrville, Alabama.
Prosecutors said Lee entered the business armed with a shotgun and killed owner Jimmy Ellis and employee Elaine Thompson.
A third employee, Helen King, survived the shooting.
Lee was convicted of capital murder in Dallas County and sentenced to death.
The Supreme Court’s decision followed a series of lower court rulings earlier in the week.
A federal district judge initially upheld Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia protocol, finding it constitutional.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later reversed that ruling.
The appeals court concluded Alabama’s protocol could pose a “substantial risk of serious harm” and potentially violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
The court sent the case back for additional review.
Alabama responded by filing an emergency request with the Supreme Court seeking permission to proceed with the execution as scheduled.
The justices denied the request.
The ruling does not overturn Lee’s conviction or death sentence.
Alabama remains free to pursue another execution date.
It remains unclear whether the state will seek to use nitrogen gas again or pursue another method.
Alabama became the first state to carry out executions using nitrogen hypoxia in 2024.
The method replaces breathable air with pure nitrogen, causing death through oxygen deprivation.
The state has used the procedure multiple times since its introduction.
The Supreme Court previously allowed Alabama to proceed with nitrogen gas executions.
Thursday’s decision did not declare nitrogen hypoxia unconstitutional.
Instead, the ruling leaves in place the appeals court’s concerns regarding Alabama’s specific execution protocol.
Lee originally selected nitrogen gas as his preferred method of execution.
He later sought a firing squad instead, arguing that nitrogen hypoxia could cause unconstitutional suffering.
A firing squad is not currently authorized under Alabama law.
The case also drew attention because of the way Lee received his death sentence.
At sentencing, a jury voted 7-5 in favor of life in prison without parole rather than execution.
A judge overrode that recommendation and imposed a death sentence.
Alabama abolished judicial override in capital cases in 2017.
The change was not made retroactive, meaning previously imposed death sentences remain in effect.
As a result, Lee remains on death row under a sentencing system the state no longer permits.
The 11th Circuit’s ruling regarding the state’s nitrogen protocol remains under review.
Additional litigation is expected before the state can move forward, Newsweek reported.
For the families of Ellis and Thompson, the ruling means further delays in a case that has stretched across more than two decades.
No new execution date has been announced.
The case will now return to the lower courts for further proceedings.
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