Alabama is set to resume lethal injection executions on Thursday, marking the first time the method has been used in the southern US state since a series of botched executions last year. Convicted murderer James Barber, 54, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore for the 2001 robbery and brutal murder of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps.
Barber, a handyman, was convicted in 2003 for beating Dorothy Epps to death with a hammer during the robbery. He is one of two death row inmates scheduled to be executed in the United States on Thursday. The second inmate, Jemaine Cannon, 51, will face lethal injection in Oklahoma for the 1995 murder of Sharonda Clark, a 20-year-old mother of two children.
The Alabama Governor Kay Ivey had issued a temporary moratorium on executions last year due to issues with lethal injections. Notably, the execution of convicted murderer Joe James Jr. on July 28, 2022, took an excruciating three hours to set an intravenous line. In response to multiple problems setting IV lines, two other execution attempts in the state were halted.
However, Alabama lifted the moratorium in February after conducting a review of execution procedures. Despite this, concerns have been raised regarding the planned execution of James Barber, given the state’s troubled history with botched lethal injections.
Barber’s attorneys have filed last-minute appeals in an attempt to halt the execution, citing the state’s past track record with execution procedures. As the execution date approaches, advocates and critics of capital punishment are closely watching how the process unfolds.
In Oklahoma, Jemaine Cannon is also scheduled to face lethal injection at 10:00 Central Time on Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. So far this year, there have been 13 executions in the United States.
