This undated photo provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows Christopher Lee Price. An appellate court won’t halt Price’s upcoming lethal injection, who had asked to be put to death with nitrogen gas. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, April 10, 2019 denied his execution stay. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP)
ATMORE, Ala. (AP) – A federal judge on Thursday postponed the scheduled execution of an Alabama man convicted of using a sword and dagger to fatally stab a pastor in 1991 as he prepared Christmas gifts for his grandchildren.
U.S. District Judge Kristi K. DuBose issued the 60-day delay two hours before the scheduled lethal injection of 46-year-old Christopher Lee Price. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals maintained the stay, but the Alabama attorney general’s office said it has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the stay and let the execution proceed late Thursday evening.
Price’s attorneys argued that Alabama’s lethal injection drug combination has led to “botched” executions and asked that Price instead be put to death by nitrogen hypoxia, a method the state has authorized but not used. Dubose stayed the execution to weigh Price’s claims. Alabama has until midnight to carry out the execution or state attorneys will have to seek a new execution date from the Alabama Supreme Court.
Price was scheduled to receive a chemical injection Thursday evening for killing pastor Bill Lynn. The 57-year-old victim was slain during a Dec. 22, 1991, robbery while he prepared Christmas gifts at his home.
Prosecutors said Lynn was at his Fayette County home getting toys ready for his grandchildren when the power was cut. Lynn went outside to check the fuse box when he was killed, according to court filings.