An Alabama inmate, who was executed Thursday night despite the fact that the victim’s daughters opposed his death, said he did not want a final meal.
Joe Nathan James Jr. received the lethal injection at 6 pm CDT at a southern Alabama prison after the US Supreme Court denied his request for a stay. The man was pronounced dead around 9: 27 pm.
At 1994, James was convicted and sentenced to death for the shooting murder of Faith Hall, aged 26, in Birmingham.
The victim’s two daughters, who were 3 and 6 years old when the crime was committed, had recently said that they would prefer that James was serving a life sentence.
On Thursday, the members of the family released a statement indicating that they would not attend the execution.
“Today is a tragic day for our family . We have to relive the pain that this caused us many years ago,” the statement said.
“We hoped that the state not take a life simply because a life was taken and we have forgiven Mr. Joe Nathan James Jr. for his atrocities towards our family… We pray that God will allow us to find healing after today and that one day our criminal justice system will hear the cries of families like ours, even if it goes against the wishes of the state”, it also reads.
According to prosecutors, James briefly dated Hall and became obsessed with her after to reject him, he harassed her for months until he murdered her on 15 August 1994.
The man acted as his own lawyer in his attempt to stop his execution. From death row, he sent notices of appeal to the courts.
On Wednesday, a lawyer filed the final appeal to the United States Supreme Court on his behalf. But she was rejected around 30 minutes before the execution began.
According to information released by the prison system, in the hours prior to her execution, James said he did not want a final meal and spoke to several lawyers on the phone.