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By Gerrard Kaonga
US News Reporter
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James Barber died by lethal injection at a South Alabama prison on Friday in the first execution carried out in the state this year after it halted executions last November. He was 64 years old.
Barber was pronounced dead at 1:56 A.M. Friday local time according to a report by the Associated Press.
He was sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps. Prosecutors had said Barber was a handyman who knew Epps' daughter. He confessed to killing Epps with a claw hammer and fleeing the scene with her purse.
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Jurors voted 11-1 to recommend a death sentence, which a judge imposed, according to the AP report.
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When asked if he had any last words, Barber told his family that he loved them and apologized to Epps' family.
"I want to tell the Epps family I love them. I'm sorry for what happened. No words would fit how I feel," he said.
Barber also said he wanted to tell Alabama Governor Kay Ivey "and the people in this room that I forgive you for what you are about to do."
In the final hours before his execution, Barber had 22 visitors and received two phone calls, according to a prison spokesperson.
His final meal was loaded hash browns, Western omelet, spicy sausage and toast.
The U.S. Supreme Court had denied an application by Barber for a stay of execution.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing a dissent from the decision, was joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Sotomayor said the court was allowing "Alabama to experiment again with a human life."
Barber's attorneys had asked the courts to block the execution, saying Alabama has a pattern of failing "to carry out a lethal injection execution in a constitutional manner."
Investigative journalist Lee Hedgepeth shared an image of the Supreme Court document regarding Barber on his Twitter page on Thursday evening, writing: "The court's 3 liberal justices dissented, saying the court shouldn't allow Alabama to let James Barber be its 'guinea pig.'"
Prior to his execution, opponents condemned the decision to go forward with Barber's lethal injection sentencing.
"Given Alabama's recent history of botched executions, it is staggering that James Barber's lethal injection is set to take place," non-profit Reprieve's director Maya Foa previously said in a statement to Newsweek.
"Three executions in a row went horribly wrong in Alabama last year, yet officials have asserted that 'no deficiencies' were found in their execution process."
Foa said the state's plan to add a strap to the death chamber gurney "to limit movement and conceal pain only confirms the inhumanity of lethal injections and the state's approach."
"Alabama is on the wrong side of history, doubling down on this cruel, outdated punishment as states across the USA turn away from the death penalty," Foa added.
Newsweek has contacted the Alabama Department of Corrections via email about these.
Prior to Barber's execution, two lethal injections were halted because of difficulties inserting IVs into the condemned men's veins.
This resulted in a "top-to-bottom" review of the death penalty procedure in the state, halting executions at the time.
Ahead of Barber's execution, Richard Anderson, an assistant Alabama attorney general, said the state would be using a new IV team, which he argued showed a "good faith" effort to correct any problems that had previously occurred.
Update: 07/21/2023 8:27 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.
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