Alabama

Alabama to execute a long-serving death row inmate for the 1988 beating death of a woman he dated

Published

11 months ago

June 10, 2025

Alabama to execute a long-serving death row inmate for the 1988 beating death of a woman he dated

ATMORE, Ala. — A man convicted of beating a woman to death nearly 37 years ago is scheduled to be executed Tuesday in Alabama in what will be the nation’s sixth execution with nitrogen gas.

Gregory Hunt is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday night at a south Alabama prison. Hunt was convicted of killing Karen Lane, a woman he had been dating for about a month, according to court records.

The Alabama execution is one of four that had been scheduled this week in the United States. Executions are also scheduled in Florida and South Carolina. A judge in Oklahoma on Monday issued a temporary stay for an execution in that state, but the state attorney general is seeking to get it lifted.

Lane was 32 when she was murdered Aug. 2, 1988, in the Cordova apartment she shared with a woman who was Hunt’s cousin.

Gregory Hunt.Alabama Department of Corrections via AP

Prosecutors said Hunt broke into her apartment and killed her after sexually abusing her. A physician who performed an autopsy testified that she died from blunt force trauma and that Lane had sustained some 60 injuries, including 20 to the head.

A jury on June 19, 1990, found Hunt guilty of capital murder during sexual abuse and burglary. Jurors recommended by a vote of 11-1 that he receive a death sentence, which a judge imposed.

Hunt’s final request for a stay of execution, which he filed himself, focused on claims that prosecutors made false statements to jurors about evidence of sexual abuse. The element of sexual abuse is what elevated the crime to a death penalty offense.

In a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court, Hunt, acting as his own attorney, wrote that a prosecutor told jurors that cervical mucus was on a broomstick near Hunt’s body. However, the victim did not have a cervix because of an earlier hysterectomy. The Alabama attorney general’s office called the claim meritless and said even if the prosecutor erred in that statement, it did not throw the conviction into doubt.

Hunt, speaking by telephone last month from prison, did not dispute killing Lane but maintained he did not sexually assault her. He also described himself as someone who was changed by prison.

“Karen didn’t deserve what happened to her,” Hunt said.

Hunt said he had been drinking and doing drugs on the night of the crime and became jealous when he saw Lane in a car with another man.

“You have your come-to-Jesus moment. Of course, after the fact, you can’t believe what has happened. You can’t believe you were part of it and did it,” Hunt said.

Hunt, who was born in 1960 and came to death row in 1990, is now among the longest-serving inmates on Alabama’s death row. He said prison became his “hospital” to heal his broken mind. He said since 1988, he has been leading a Bible class attended by two dozen or more inmates.

“Just trying to be a light in a dark place, trying to tell people if I can change, they can too. … become people of love instead of hate,” he said.

Lane’s sister declined to comment when reached by telephone. The family is expected to give a written statement Tuesday night.

“The way she was killed is just devastating,” Denise Gurganus, Lane’s sister, told TV station WBRC at a 2014 vigil for crime victims. “It’s hard enough to lose a family member to death, but when it’s this gruesome.”

The Alabama attorney general’s office, in asking justices to reject Hunt’s request for a stay of execution, wrote that Hunt has now been on death row longer than Lane was alive.

Alabama last year became the first state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas. Nitrogen has now been used in five executions — four in Alabama and one in Louisiana. The method involves using a gas mask to force an inmate to breathe pure nitrogen gas, depriving them of the oxygen needed to stay alive.

Hunt had named nitrogen as his preferred execution method. He made the selection before Alabama had developed procedures for using gas. Alabama also allows inmates to choose lethal injection or the electric chair.

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Alabama

Alabama Claims Series Finale

Published

9 hours ago

May 2, 2026

Press Room

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Vanderbilt lost 8-5 in the series finale at No. 24 Alabama on Saturday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

After falling behind early, the Commodores clawed their way back but the home side was able to hold on for the win.

Alabama used four hits, including a three-run homer, to build a 5-0 lead in the first inning.

Colin Barczi got Vanderbilt right back in the game in the top of the second with a three-run blast of his own. Braden Holcomb led off the frame with a single and stole second. Rustan Rigdon was hit by a pitch with two outs and Barczi launched his 10th home run of the season to make it 5-3.

Holcomb picked up his second hit of the day in the top of the third. After Mike Mancini worked a walk and stole second, Holcomb lined a single up the middle to bring home Mancini and pull the Commodores to within a run.

Alabama worked a pair of walks to start off the bottom of the fourth and both runners came around to score as the Crimson Tide went ahead 7-4.

Korbin Reynolds roped a double off the wall to lead off the top of the seventh. Reynolds moved up to third on a passed ball before touching home on a sac fly by Ryker Waite to cut Alabama’s lead back down to two.

Luke Guth came on to pitch with two on and nobody out in the seventh. Catcher’s interference loaded the bases but Guth escaped the jam to keep the deficit at two.

The Crimson Tide extended their lead to three with a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth, going in front 8-5.

Vanderbilt returns home to host Louisville in the Battle of the Barrel on Tuesday at Hawkins Field.

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Alabama

Incoming Alabama basketball transfer confirms commitment amid ‘false rumors’

Published

21 hours ago

May 2, 2026

Press Room

Incoming Alabama basketball transfer confirms commitment amid ‘false rumors’

Transfer portal gossip is nothing new, and the buzz continues to surround Alabama basketball after a fourth consecutive Sweet 16 run.

Earlier this week, an incoming Crimson Tide forward became the latest subject of that speculation, and he didn’t wait long to respond.

After spending his freshman year at Mississippi State, Jamarion Davis-Fleming will join the Crimson Tide’s roster for the 2026-27 season. Days ago, though, rumors circulated that he had not signed with Alabama and was considering a return to Starkville.

On Friday, May 1, Davis-Fleming put any doubt that he was going to play for anyone other than coach Nate Oats to rest.

“Stop with the false rumors, I’m Locked in with The Tide,” Davis-Fleming wrote.

With the Bulldogs, Davis-Fleming averaged 3.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 67.6% across 32 games.

Davis-Fleming is the brother of former Crimson Tide forward Javian Davis, who played under Oats during his first season at the helm of Alabama.

Three other transfer commits are expected to join Davis-Fleming next season, including Brandon Garrison (Kentucky), Cole Cloer (NC State) and Drew Fielder (Boise State). Per 247Sports, the Crimson Tide’s transfer ranking is 19th in the nation.

Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for The Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@usatodayco.com.

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Alabama

Alabama becomes second state to move to redraw maps after Supreme Court ruling | CNN Politics

Published

1 day ago

May 1, 2026

Press Room

Alabama becomes second state to move to redraw maps after Supreme Court ruling | CNN Politics

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday announced the Republican-controlled state legislature will hold a special session next week to pave the way for redistricting – becoming the second state to take action following the Supreme Court’s decision further weakening the Voting Rights Act.

Lawmakers will meet starting Monday to establish a special primary election for both US House and state Senate districts “whose boundary lines are altered by court action,” Ivey, a Republican, said in her proclamation.

The state’s primary election is slated for May 19.

In the immediate aftermath of the high court’s Wednesday ruling striking down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana, Ivey indicated that her state would not attempt to redraw its lines. Alabama currently is under a court order prohibiting the state from redistricting until after the 2030 census.

But Ivey and other officials have faced intense pressure to act. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on Thursday filed motions asking the high court to move quickly to lift the injunctions so Alabama can proceed with redistricting.

State efforts to redraw their lines ahead of November’s midterm elections carry high stakes for both political parties. Republicans currently hold a paper-thin majority in the House, and both parties have waged a coast-to-coast mid-decade redistricting war for months, seeking to eke out a partisan advantage.

Redistricting typically occurs once a decade, after the census.

This week’s ruling from the Supreme Court – which makes it significantly harder to challenge redistricting plans as discriminatory – has set off a fresh redistricting scramble.

In a statement, Ivey said she is calling the special session in the hopes that the state will prevail in court. Alabama is currently represented in the US House by five Republicans and two Democrats, after courts ordered the creation of a second congressional district with a sizable Black population.

Ivey’s action comes a day after Republican officials in Louisiana announced that they were delaying the state’s primary elections for US House, although overseas ballots have already been mailed. Louisiana officials say they will not count votes cast in the May 16 election for US House seats, as the legislature looks to draw a new map.

Voters, civil rights organizations and other groups have filed legal challenges, seeking to block the Louisiana plan.

CNN’s John Fritze contributed to this report.

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