Alabama killer is executed following a final phone call to his mother

An Alabama inmate who shot his girlfriend dead nearly three decades ago was executed by lethal injection Thursday night after having a final phone call with his mother and despite pleas from the victim’s family for clemency. 

Joe Nathan James Jr., 50, received a lethal injection at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore after the US Supreme Court denied his request for a stay despite desperate pleas from the victim’s family to spare his life. 

James was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1994 shooting death of Faith Hall, 26, in Birmingham. 

Hall’s daughters have said they would rather James serve life in prison, but Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Wednesday that she would let the execution proceed.

ADOC Public Information Officer Kelly Betts said James spoke to his mother on the phone on Wednesday before the execution, according to AL.com. 

The next day he spoke to two lawyers on the phone and refused all his meals that day, including a last meal.  

James briefly dated Hall and became obsessed after she rejected him, stalking and harassing her for months before killing her, prosecutors said.

On August 15, 1994, after Hall had been out shopping with a friend, James forced his way inside the friend’s apartment, pulled a gun from his waistband and shot Hall three times, according to court documents.

James was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1994 shooting death of Faith Hall (pictured) in Birmingham

Faith Hall (pictured) seen in this undated photo, was just 26 years old at the time of her murder

 A Jefferson County jury first convicted James of capital murder in 1996 and voted to recommend the death penalty, which a judge imposed. 

The conviction was overturned when a state appeals court ruled a judge had wrongly admitted some police reports into evidence. 

James was retried and again sentenced to death in 1999, when jurors rejected defense claims that he was under emotional duress at the time of the shooting.

The execution was scheduled for 6pm CDT, but was delayed for three hours. 

The state is, ‘very deliberate in our process in making sure everything goes according to plan,’ Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said, without elaborating about which process or part of the process was taking extra time.

James did not open his eyes or show any visible movements before the execution began at 9pm. He did not move or speak when the warden asked if he had any final words. The death warrant was read at 9.03pm. 

Hall’s daughters have said they would rather James serve life in prison, but Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Wednesday that she would let the execution proceed. Pictured: Alabama’s lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility

 An IV that was attached to James’ arm shook slightly with movement at 9.05pm and one minute later, he appeared to have labored breathing, AL.com reported. 

The labored breathing lasted until about 9.10pm when a correctional officer performed a consciousness check consisting of shouting James’ name, flicking his eyelid and pinching his arm.

While James’ head moved to the side after the arm pinch, he did not respond to the motions. 

 At 9.12pm, James appeared to stop breathing. The curtains to the viewing room closed six minutes later. He was pronounced dead at 9.27pm.

While media witnesses were waiting in the van outside of Holman’s Death Row, inmates inside stared out the windows from their cells. One inmate hung four pieces of paper in his window with handwriting that read, ‘This is a murder’ on the top page. 

The two pages directly below were not readable from a distance. The fourth paper read: ‘Victim family says no.’ 

Hall’s two daughters, Toni Hall Melton, who was three, and Terryln Hall, who was six when their mother was killed, had said recently that they would rather James serve life in prison. The family members did not attend the execution.

The victim’s daughter, Terrlyn (pictured left) and Hall’s brother Obito (pictured right) tried to prevent James from execution and instead wanted him to serve a life sentence behind bars but their request was denied by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey 

‘Today is a tragic day for our family. We are having to relive the hurt that this caused us many years ago,’ a statement issued through state Rep. Juandalynn Givan’s office read. Givan was a friend of Hall’s.

‘We hoped the state wouldn’t take a life simply because a life was taken and we have forgiven Mr. Joe Nathan James Jr. for his atrocities toward our family… We pray that God allows us to find healing after today and that one day our criminal justice system will listen to the cries of families like ours, even if it goes against what the state wishes,’ the family’s statement read.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said she would not intervene. In a statement Thursday night, Ivey said she deeply considers the feelings of the victim’s family and loved ones, but ‘must always fulfill our responsibility to the law, to public safety and to justice.’

‘Faith Hall, the victim of repetitive harassment, serious threats and ultimately, cold-blooded murder, was taken from this earth far too soon at the hands of Joe Nathan James, Jr. Now, after two convictions, a unanimous jury decision and nearly three decades on death row, Mr. James has been executed for capital murder, and justice has been served for Faith Hall.

She said the execution sends an,’ unmistakable message was sent that Alabama stands with victims of domestic violence.’

James acted as his own attorney in his bid to stop his execution, mailing handwritten lawsuits and appeal notices to the courts from death row. 

A lawyer filed the latest appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on his behalf Wednesday. But the request for a stay was rejected about 30 minutes before the execution was set to begin.

James asked the justices for a stay, noting the opposition of Hall’s family and arguing that Alabama did not give inmates adequate notice of their right to select an alternate execution method. 

He also argued that Ivey’s refusal violates religious freedom laws because the Koran and the Bible ‘place the concept of forgiveness paramount in this situation.’

The state argued that James waited too late to begin trying to postpone his execution and ‘should not be rewarded for his transparent attempt to game the system.’ 

‘Tonight, Joe James finally received his just punishment,’ Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement after the execution. ‘Joe James was put to death for the heinous act he committed nearly three decades ago: the cold-blooded murder of an innocent young mother, Faith Hall.’

‘In the years since, Joe James has tried to blame everything and everyone in an attempt to escape the consequences of his crime. He has claimed that his highly experienced trial counsel was ‘ineffective,’ that his artful appellate counsel was ‘deficient,’ and — in a demonstration of shocking cowardice and callousness — that his victim bore the blame for her own murder,’ Marshall stated.