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Alabama man executed for killing elderly couple in 2004

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Alabama man executed for killing elderly couple in 2004


An Alabama man convicted of murdering an elderly couple in 2004 was executed by lethal injection on Thursday night.

Jamie Ray Mills, 50, had spent 20 years behind bars for the killings of Floyd and Vera Hill in Guin. He was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. after a three-drug injection at a state prison in Atmore.

A federal court rejected Mills’ last-minute appeal on Tuesday, and his attorneys asked the Supreme Court to intervene on Wednesday.

Mills had claimed he was innocent and argued he received an unfair trial. His wife, JoAnn Mills, was the key witness against him. She later pleaded guilty to murder charges and was sentenced to life in prison.

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Attorneys for Mills claimed JoAnn Mills cut a plea deal before trial but did not inform the court. Prosecutors have maintained there was never a deal with JoAnn Mills.

“Prosecutors obtained his conviction illegally by falsely telling the judge and jury they had not made a deal with the State’s star witness,” the Equal Justice Initiative wrote on its website.

The Millses went to the Hills’ home in Guin, about 70 miles northwest of Birmingham, on the night of June 24, 2004. Floyd Hill, 87, and Vera Hill, 72, let them in to use the phone.

At the home, Jamie Mills attacked the couple with a machete, a hammer and a tire iron. Floyd was pronounced dead at the scene, while Vera died from her injuries about 12 weeks later.

Mills then stole several items, including $140 from Floyd Hill’s wallet and a tacklebox with prescription medication.

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Police captured Jamie and JoAnn Mills the following day. They were leaving their home wearing blood-stained clothes and transporting the murder weapons in the trunk of their car.

A jury convicted Jamie Mills of capital murder and voted 11-1 to sentence him to death.

He was the first person to be executed in Alabama since January, when the state killed Kenneth Eugene Smith using nitrogen gas, a first in U.S. history.

With News Wire Services



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Alabama

Two inmates killed in armed fight inside Alabama prison

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Two inmates killed in armed fight inside Alabama prison


Two Alabama prison inmates were killed Thursday during a fight inside Elemore Correctional Facility.

The Alabama Department of Corrections on Friday confirmed the killings and identified the slain inmates as Damon Lamar Calhoun, 35, and Londell Ramone Nunn Jr., 34.

A third inmate involved in the Elmore Correctional Facility altercation – 20-year-old Deion Lamar Booth – was not injured.

ADOC spokeswoman Kelly Betts said Calhoun and Nunn were severely injured during the fight – which involved an undisclosed weapon – and were taken to the Health Care Unit.

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Medical staff immediately began life-saving measures without success, Betts said.

Their bodies have been taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for autopsy.

Calhoun was serving an 18-year sentence for third-degree burglary out of Mobile County.

Nunn was serving a 10-year sentence for first-degree robbery out of Morgan County.

Booth is serving a 20-year sentence for first-degree assault out of Escambia County.

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The investigation is ongoing by ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division.



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Harvesting organs from Alabama prison inmates could soon be a felony

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Harvesting organs from Alabama prison inmates could soon be a felony


An Alabama House committee Wednesday approved legislation that could subject medical examiners to prison time if they harvest a deceased person’s organs without first notifying and obtaining consent from the deceased’s family.

HB 71, sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, makes it a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine, for a medical examiner to take a person’s organs without contacting their next of kin.

The law currently requires medical examiners to notify family members when organs are harvested and requires consent in all cases save for identification of the deceased, but does not provide penalties.

“The law already prohibited taking someone’s organs without permission, this adds a penalty to that because, apparently, this is a problem,” England said during a House Judiciary Committee meeting.

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In 2024, eight families sued the Alabama Department of Corrections, alleging that the department harvested the organs of their loved ones, who died while in prison, and sent them to the University of Alabama Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine.

According to the lawsuit, a group of medical students from the school noticed that many of the specimens they worked with in the curriculum were taken from people who died while in Alabama’s prisons.

The university and the Alabama Department of Corrections sought to have the case dismissed in February claiming that the university is immune from civil litigation filed by the plaintiffs. The Montgomery Circuit court ruled against the motion to dismiss and allowed the case to move forward.

The House Judiciary Committee approved similar legislation that England sponsored in 2024.

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The bill goes to the Alabama House of Representatives.



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Alabama House passes bill requiring random post-election audits

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Alabama House passes bill requiring random post-election audits


The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill requiring every county to audit the results of at least one race in at least one precinct after every general election.

Rep. Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn, said the intent is to identify any potential problems, such as malfunction of the ballot-counting machines.

The audits could not result in changing the outcome of an election.

Republican lawmakers have proposed similar bills before and they have passed the House but not the Senate.

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Democrats questioned the need for the legislation.

“I believe this is a frivolous bill,” Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham said.

Moore said the ballot counting machines are tested before elections.

“We don’t have any data to prove that anything irregular has happened,” Moore said.

Lovvorn said the audits would identify potential problems that need to be fixed before the next election.

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Lovvorn noted that the audits would cost an estimated total of $35,000 per day statewide, according to the bill’s fiscal note.

The state would reimburse counties for their costs.

Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Birmingham, questioned the $35,000 figure, noting that would be an average of just $522 for Alabama’s 67 counties.

He said the state’s large counties would have to spend more than that to do the audits.

Lovvorn said the cost would vary by county but said it would be justified to help ensure people’s confidence in elections.

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“This is a minimal cost for peace of mind for all of us and all the people we represent, that we’re doing everything we can to prove that this is working correctly,“ Lovvorn said.

Under his bill, the probate judge of every county would order an audit after every county or statewide general election.

The county canvassing board would randomly select one race for the audit and one precinct.

County canvassing boards are made up of the probate judge, the circuit clerk, and the sheriff.

The probate judge would select a date and time for the audit, which could happen no earlier than 31 days after the election or the expiration of the time period to file an election contest, whichever is less.

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The probate judge would appoint an inspector and poll workers to do the audit.

Every ballot from the selected race in the selected precinct would be counted after being delivered in the sealed ballot containers.

The ballots could be counted either manually or by a ballot counter. At least 30 ballots would be manually examined to compare with the reading on the ballot counter for each ballot.

The probate judge would report the findings of each post-election audit to the secretary of state, including any problems found, the cause, and recommendations for fixing them.

The reports would be posted on the secretary of state website.

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The bill passed by a vote of 72-25. It was the first bill passed by the House during this year’s annual session, which started Tuesday.



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