Nathaniel Woods had already surrendered when it happened. There’s no way he could have committed the crime he would later be accused of, but that didn’t stop the state of Alabama from doing something that shocked the world and devastated a hopeful family.
Nathaniel Woods was at an apartment when three officers serving a warrant were gunned down by another man in the same apartment. Though he didn’t pull the trigger, the prosecution framed the incident as a set up he helped plan.
The facts tell a different story.
The actual shooter even admitted Woods wasn’t involved. Still, he was sentenced to death despite two jurors voting against it! That’s because Alabama is the only state where a judge can sentence a defendant to death without a unanimous jury decision.
But his family found reason to remain hopeful.
Celebrities like T.I., Meek Mill, and even the children of Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke out alongside a huge public demand that his life be spared. The state of Alabama still didn’t care.
Then, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas got their hopes up for nothing.
Thomas issued a temporary stay of execution, only to allow the execution to go through shortly after. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey did nothing and Attorney General Steve Marshall heralded his execution as “justice.”
It was anything but that. It was state sanctioned murder.