UPDATE: Alabama death row inmate Nathaniel Woods executed
03/05/2020 4:15 pm PST
UPDATE 9:27 p.m. CT:
ATMORE, Ala. -- Nathaniel Woods was executed Thursday night at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, AL.com reports.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement on the execution, which she had earlier declined a request to stop. “Under Alabama law, someone who helps kill a police officer is just as guilty as the person who directly commits the crime. Since 1983, Alabama has executed two individuals for being an accomplice to capital murder.
“After thorough and careful consideration of the facts surrounding the case, the initial jury's decision, the many legal challenges and reviews, I concluded that the state of Alabama should carry out Mr. Woods' lawfully imposed sentence this evening."
Woods was pronounced dead at 9:01 p.m.
MORE: Nathaniel Woods executed for 2004 slayings of 3 Birmingham police officers - AL.com
The controversial execution was carried out just minutes after the Supreme Court denied a temporary stay, issued only hours earlier.
Late Thursday, Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas issued a temporary stay in the minutes leading up to the execution of Woods, ABC News reports.
A spokeswoman with the Alabama Department of Corrections told ABC News that the execution warrant did not run out until 11:59 p.m., meaning they had until then to carry out the execution once the court decided to lift the temporary stay.
MORE: Nathaniel Woods executed in Alabama after Supreme Court denies stay - ABC News
Woods was put to death amid a storm of appeals and protests from supporters, who noted that Woods did not actually kill the officers; that Woods' attorneys missed key deadlines in his appeals; and that the trigger man - also on death row - said Woods was not involved.
MORE: Nathaniel Woods executed as accomplice in 2004 police murders - Montgomery Advertiser
ATMORE, Ala. (WHNT) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a temporary stay of execution for Nathaniel Woods.
Woods was convicted in the 2004 murders of three Birmingham Police Officers: Charles Bennett, Harley Chisholm III, and Carlos Owen.
Advocates for Woods have sent several letters to Governor Kay Ivey calling him “an innocent man” since he didn't pull the trigger. They have asked her to commute his sentence.
Kerry Spencer, also sentenced to death for the crime, has admitted he was the shooter.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is fighting for Woods' death to move forward. He says Woods was no innocent bystander, but “a willing participant.” In a letter to Governor Ivey he cited testimony from the only surviving officer that Woods pointed out one of the officers so Spencer could shoot him.
Woods, 43, was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Thursday at Holman Correctional Facility. Woods has been sitting on death row for more than a decade.
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