Alabama executed Casey A. McWhorter by lethal injection Thursday night, imposing the death penalty for killing and robbing Edward Lee Williams in Marshall County in 1993.
The execution of McWhorter appeared to proceed according to the state’s protocol. The curtain giving reporters a view opened at 6:30 and was drawn closed at 6:47.
McWhorter was strapped to a gurney with his legs bound together by a confining fabric, and his bare arms extended to either side and strapped down. He appeared calm, looking at the ceiling and rubbing his curled fingers against his thumbs as the proceedings began.
Asked if he wished to say anything, he began by saying “I would like to say I love my mother and my family.” To the victim’s family, he said he was sorry and he hoped they had found peace.
He then added, “It’s not lost on me that a habitual abuser of women is carrying out this procedure.” A prison spokesperson had no comment on the remark.
He kept his eyes mostly closed after that, adjusting his position slightly and continuing to rub his fingers. His spiritual advisor, the Rev. Jeffery Hood, spoke to him and touched his feet as he finished at 6:35, and McWhorter nodded in response.
From there, he seemed to settle gradually into unconsciousness. At 6:38 a guard tested his responses, speaking to him loudly, touching his head and then pinching his arm. McWhorter’s only responses were minimal movements. At 6:39 his breathing became more visible, then faded. By 6:40 he had become completely still and the color had begun to fade from his face.
McWhorter had been completely still for at least seven minutes when the curtain was drawn at 6:47, ending reporters’ view of the process. The official time of death was announced as 6:56 p.m.
Afterward, ADOC Commissioner John Hamm read a statement from April Williams, daughter of Edward Lee Williams Sr. The victim’s brother, Gilbert Williams, also spoke briefly, calling McWhorter “a murderous dog.”
April Williams’ statement said that she was only 16 at the time of her father’s murder and that he was only 33. She described the lifelong grief of being deprived of every influence and milestone her father should have been there for, and said the trauma of his violent death stayed with her in adulthood. He would now have been nearing retirement.
She said that McWhorter had had “several hours in that house to change his mind from taking the life of my dad from me and the family around me.” And she did not believe McWhorter had truly repented, she said: “Casey McWhorter has had 30 years just to say that he was sorry to me and my dad’s family. There’s been no show of remorse from him even seeing him on the stand at court hearings.”
Gilbert Williams began by thanking the state and Gov. Kay Ivey “for making sure this had happened.” It had taken 30 years for justice to be served, he said.
“It’s kind of unfortunate we had to wait so long for justice to be served, but it’s been served,” he said. “And although this man killed my brother in a most vicious, violent and heinous way, he died in his sleep not more than an hour ago, [a] peaceful death to a murderous dog.”
Where some executions in recent years have been marked by difficulties finding viable veins for the IVs used in the process, Hamm said McWhorter received “one stick” in each arm.
McWhorter, 49, had been on Alabama Death Row since 1994, when a Marshall County jury convicted him of capital murder.
The execution was carried out at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. McWhorter is the second inmate put to death by Alabama this year. James Barber was executed by lethal injection in July.
On Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the requests by McWhorter’s lawyers for a stay of his execution and to review the case, requests they had made twice since Nov. 1.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed briefs with the Supreme Court opposing those requests.
The court did not release any opinions or breakdown on how the justices voted.
Marshall said McWhorter’s execution was overdue.
“Justice is the value we place on the life that was wronged,” Marshall said. “I regret that Mr. Williams’s family had to wait for over three decades for this finality. Most of us will never understand the agony that families like the Williams faced, waiting to see if the justice system really is just.
“As you might expect, the usual suspects are claiming that this just punishment is cruel and atrocious. I find it contemptible that so-called advocates have neglected to mention the details of Mr. Williams’s murder and the agony that his family has suffered since that terrible day. Edward Williams was shot 11 times, and as he lay on the ground fighting for his life, this murderer shot him in the head to ensure he was dead. In my book, that is cruel and atrocious.
“I ask the people of Alabama to join me in praying for Edward’s family and friends, and that they might at last find peace and closure.”
In a statement Thursday night, Gov. Kay Ivey said after the Supreme Court legally cleared the way for the execution, she told ADOC Commissioner Hamm that she would not exercise her clemency powers.
“Edward Lee Williams’ life was taken away from him at the hands of Casey A. McWhorter, and tonight, Mr. McWhorter answered for his actions,” the governor said. “In February 1993 in Marshall County, Mr. McWhorter joined two others in ambushing and shooting to death Mr. Williams. After Mr. Williams was struck at least 11 times with .22 caliber rifles, each with makeshift silencers, Mr. McWhorter fired at least one round into Mr. Williams’ head to assure his death.
“Despite the fact that Mr. McWhorter managed to delay his date with justice for over three decades, his guilt of Mr. Williams’ premeditated robbery and murder was never in question. In Alabama, we uphold the rule of law and hold accountable those who take the lives of others. Casey McWhorter has finally paid for his heinous crime.”
Prior to the beginning of the execution, the ADOC released some information about Casey McWhorter’s activities over the previous 24 hours.
On Wednesday, McWhorter refused breakfast, according to an account of his activities provided by ADOC. He spoke by phone with spiritual advisor Jeffery Hood and several friends, and tried to call two other people who did not answer. He was visited by Hood; his stepfather, Marshall Bearden; his mother, Carolyn Rowland; a sister, Kiersten Ferguson; and two friends. He received a lunch tray.
On Thursday, according to ADOC, He was visited by Hood, his stepfather and his mother. He spoke by phone with attorney Ben Rosenburg and two friends.
He refused breakfast and his lunch tray but was observed drinking a peach soda. For his final meal, he had Turtles candy.
McWhorter, who was 18 at the time of the crime, was one of three teens from Albertville charged with capital murder in the case. The victim’s son, Edward Lee Williams Jr., who was 14 at the time, and Steven Daniel Miner, who was 16, pleaded guilty to a lesser offense of murder and were sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. Williams and Miner remain in prison.
The trial court’s sentencing order for McWhorter described the crime.
McWhorter and the two other teens conspired to rob and kill Williams, the order says, discussing their plan for several weeks. On Feb. 18, 1993, a fourth person dropped McWhorter and Miner off a few blocks from Williams’ home at about 3 p.m. The fourth person and Williams’ son then drove around in anticipation of a rendezvous later.
McWhorter and Miner walked to Williams’ house, which was unlocked. They knew Williams was not expected home for several hours.
McWhorter and Miner made silencers for two .22 rifles that were in the home. They made one from a plastic jug filled with napkins and duct-taped to the rifle. They used duct tape and electrical wire to wrap a pillow around the second rifle. They test-fired the rifles into a mattress.
When Williams came home, he tried to take the rifle from Miner. During the struggle, McWhorter shot Williams, the first of 11 shots to strike the victim. After Williams was on the floor, McWhorter fired at least one shot into his head. Williams was 33.
McWhorter and Miner stole Williams’ wallet and other items from the home and left in Williams’ truck. They met Williams’ son and the fourth person at a pre-arranged spot. They took Williams’ truck into the woods, stripped it for parts, and divided up the stolen goods.
McWhorter was tried in Marshall County in March 1994. After a five-day trial and one day of deliberations, the jury returned the guilty verdict. The jury voted 10-2 to recommend the death penalty. Circuit Judge Bill Gullahorn sentenced McWhorter to death.
McWhorter has lost appeals in state and federal courts.
On August 9, Attorney General Marshall asked the Alabama Supreme Court to authorize the state to carry out McWhorter’s death sentence. The court granted that request on Oct. 13.
On Oct. 18, Gov. Ivey announced the 30-hour time frame for the execution.
McWhorter’s attorneys filed their first request for a stay with the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 1. They raised the issue of McWhorter’s age at the time of the crime, 18, and noted that 18-year-olds are minors under Alabama law and cannot serve on juries.
“Alabama’s treatment of 18-year-olds is not just arbitrary but unconstitutional,” McWhorter’s attorneys wrote in their request for a stay. “If 18-year-olds are competent to be tried as adults and subject to capital punishment, there is no rational reason for them to be excluded from state jury service. By systematically excluding 18-year-olds from jury venires, Alabama deprives criminal defendants of their right under the U.S. Constitution to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community. Alabama also deprives 18-year-olds of their right to serve on juries. But if 18-year-olds are juveniles, as Alabama law has deemed, then they should not eligible for the death penalty for crimes committed as juveniles.”
Marshall, in his response, told the U.S. Supreme Court that there is no constitutional right protecting 18-year-olds from capital punishment, even in states where the minimum age for jury service is 19. Marshall also said McWhorter was raising the issue too late and that it should have been brought up at the time of McWhorter’s trial.
A 2005 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court prohibits the death sentence for people who were under 18 at the time of their crimes. McWhorter was three months past his 18th birthday at the time he killed Williams, according to his request for a stay.
In a second request for a stay on Nov. 14, McWhorter’s lawyers claimed the state failed to give what they said was a required 30-day notice for McWhorter’s execution date. Ivey announced the execution time frame on Oct. 18, 29 days in advance. McWhorter’s lawyers claimed failure to provide the 30-day notice violated McWhorter’s due process and equal protection rights.
Marshall, in his opposition to McWhorter’s request for a stay, said Alabama law does not require a 30-day notice of an execution date. Marshall said the requirement is at least a 30-day period between the state Supreme Court issuing the execution warrant and the execution date. In this case, that period was more than 30 days because the state Supreme Court issued the execution warrant on Oct. 13.
Thursday night’s execution came one year after a series of problems with lethal injections caused Ivey to call for a hold on executions in Alabama to review the process.
The moratorium came after the prolonged execution in July 2022 of Joe Nathan James Jr., followed by the failed attempts to execute Alan Eugene Miller in September and Kenneth Eugene Smith in November. The execution of James started three hours late because of difficulty starting the IV lines. The ADOC called off the executions of Miller and Smith after 11 p.m. because of concerns they would not be finished when the execution warrants expired at midnight.
The moratorium ended in February. One change that resulted from the pause was a new rule by the Alabama Supreme Court allowing the governor to set a time frame for an execution rather than limiting the death warrant to a single date. Under that rule, Ivey has scheduled the 30-hour timeframes, meaning that the state no longer faces a midnight deadline for completing an execution.
The execution of James Barber in July, the first one to follow the moratorium, was not delayed by problems connecting the IV lines. Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said after the execution that the execution team needed three sticks of Barber to secure two IV lines within six minutes. Barber had IV lines in each hand.
Alabama plans to try a new execution method next year, one never used by any state. The state is scheduled to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen hypoxia in January.
The Legislature authorized nitrogen hypoxia in 2018 as an alternative to lethal injection. The state released almost no information about how it would work until a redacted protocol that was attached to the request to the state Supreme Court to issued the execution warrant for Smith.
Read more: Death with a gas mask: Court ruling moves Alabama closer to using untried execution method
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