After nitrogen gas execution was blocked, Alabama carries out lethal injection of man who killed Elvis impersonator
Updated on: September 17, 2026 / 7:52 PM EDT / CBS/AP
TL;DR
- Jeffery Lee was executed by lethal injection in Alabama on Thursday.
- A judge had previously blocked his execution by nitrogen gas, ruling it unconstitutionally cruel.
- Lee was convicted of the 1998 double murder of Elvis Presley impersonator Jimmy Ellis and store employee Elaine Thompson.
- Lee's jury had recommended a life sentence, but the judge overrode this and sentenced him to death.
- Alabama's judicial override law was abolished in 2017 but not retroactively applied.
- Lee had previously challenged Alabama's lethal injection protocol and selected nitrogen gas as his preferred method after the state agreed to use it.
- Lethal injection is Alabama's primary execution method, but the state has also used nitrogen gas in recent years.