(Washington) A man on death row for murder is due to be executed in Alabama on Thursday in what would be the first lethal injection in the southern US state since last year and a series of executions marred by dysfunction.
James Barber, 54, a handyman by profession, was convicted in 2003 of beating a septuagenarian to death with a hammer during a burglary.
He is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at Atmore, Alabama, prison between 1:01 a.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday.
Republican Alabama Governor Kay Ivey declared a moratorium on executions last year after several problems with lethal injections.
In one case, the July 2022 execution of Joe James Jr., it took more than three hours to set up an IV drip.
Two other execution attempts had to be stopped because of problems in the placement of these infusions.
James Barber will be the first convict to be executed in Alabama since the end of the review of proceedings, which led to the lifting of the moratorium in February.
His attorneys have filed multiple appeals to stay the execution based on the number of failed executions in Alabama.
In Oklahoma, Jemaine Cannon, 51, is also due to be executed Thursday for the 1995 murder of a 20-year-old woman.
He is to receive a lethal injection at 11 a.m. in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, said the prison services of this other state in the southern United States.
The United States has 13 executions so far in 2023, all by lethal injection.