Alabama is set to execute Jeffrey Todd West, 50, who was convicted of murdering Margaret Parish Berry during a 1997 gas station robbery. Berry was shot to eliminate any witnesses, and West was convicted of capital murder with a 10-2 jury recommendation for the death penalty. Despite acknowledging his role in the crime, West expressed remorse and a desire to apologize to Berry’s family.
Will Berry, one of Margaret’s sons, has appealed to Governor Kay Ivey to commute West’s sentence to life imprisonment, believing that forgiveness is what his mother would have wanted. Ivey, however, stated that under Alabama law, death is mandated for such severe crimes and reiterated her commitment to enforcing the law.
The execution will employ nitrogen gas, a method recently approved in Alabama, which involves forcing the inmate to inhale pure nitrogen, depriving the body of oxygen. While West chose this method in 2018, it was only instituted following the development of specific procedures, with West being among the first to be executed this way since its introduction.
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