Nathaniel Woods, convict of the Birmingham shooting was executed on Thursday night. Plea to grant him clemency was rejected. The verdict stated that Woods will be injected by lethal injection at 6 pm in Holman Prison and he was pronounced dead at 9.01 pm. This is the first execution in the state for 2020.
The 44-year-old Nathaniel Woods was convicted following the shooting of three police officers from Birmingham in 2004. The verdict was announced after the US Supreme Court lifted the earlier issued stay to review the case. Meanwhile, Wood's family members along with activists had alleged that the case was not handled fairly and Alabama's criminal laws treated black defendants badly and unfairly.
Spencer requested Wood's execution to be halted
After announcing the decision to execution Ivy released the statement: "After thorough and careful consideration of the facts surrounding the case, the initial jury's decision, the many legal challenges and reviews, I concluded that the state of Alabama should carry out Mr Woods' lawfully imposed sentence this evening."
Kerry Spencer, the convict's co-defendant denied Woods's role as complicit and requested for execution to be halted. Spencer said that "Nathaniel Woods is 100% innocent." He wrote an open letter and said, "I know that to be a fact because I'm the person that shot and killed all three of the officers that Nathaniel was subsequently charged and convicted of murder. Nathaniel Woods doesn't even deserve to be incarcerated, much less executed."
Few celebrities had sought Ivy's intervention in the case
Even celebrities including Kim Kardashian West and activist Martin Luther King III had sought Ivy's intervention in the case. The shooting incident occurred in 2005 when Woods and Spencer's house in Birmingham was raided on charges of them being involved in the sale of crack cocaine. During the raid, police said that Woods carried out an ambush and led Spencer to shoot at them.
Spencer has confessed to the crime and said that he had shot the police in self-defence to stop them from assaulting Wood. Three police officers Carlos Owen, Harley Chisholm III and Charles Bennett died and another cop was injured. Even the injured cop Michael Collins said that Woods had helped carry out shooting but had not fired the weapon himself.
