Jeffery Lee

Jeffery James Lee (December 26, 1976 – September 17, 2026) was an American convicted murderer sentenced to death in Alabama. Lee was found guilty of murdering American singer Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a pawn shop robbery on December 12, 1998. Lee was also convicted of shooting Helen King in the same attack. Despite the jury's 7–5 vote for life without parole in his 2000 murder trial, Lee was sentenced to death by the trial judge through judicial override, a controversial practice that was eventually abolished in Alabama. Lee's execution was originally scheduled to be carried out by nitrogen hypoxia on June 11, 2026. However, it was ultimately stayed due to the federal courts finding it unconstitutional to execute Lee by nitrogen hypoxia, an execution method which became increasingly controversial due to several inmates allegedly experiencing severe pain or suffering during prior executions in the state. After his execution was stayed, the state filed litigation to re-schedule Lee's execution via lethal injection, and Lee was eventually executed on September 17, 2026, after the Alabama Supreme Court and Governor Kay Ivey authorized his new death warrant. Lee was a board member of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, an anti-death penalty group composed of death row inmates.