Supreme Court orders last-minute temporary stay of execution of Alabama man

The Supreme Court ordered a last-minute temporary stay on the execution of an Alabama man scheduled to be executed Thursday evening. 

Nathaniel Woods, 44, was set to die by lethal injection at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., at 6 p.m. local time, according to court documents. 

The order, signed by Justice Clarence Thomas, stayed Woods’s execution “pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court.”

The move by the Supreme Court comes after Woods’s attorneys and supporters argued that he did not play a direct role in the 2005 killing of three police officers. 

The ruling came minutes before he was set to die, a moment when he had already requested his last meal of sweet potatoes, spinach, chicken patty, chicken leg quarter, cooked apples, fries, two oranges and an orange flavored drink, the Alabama Department of Corrections told ABC News.

Woods also made calls earlier that day to his family, though his imam was the only person expected to be present at the execution.

Martin Luther King III, the son of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., was one of many calling Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) to halt the execution. On Thursday, he praised the move by Justice Thomas. 

“Amazing news!! The Supreme Court has issued a stay of execution for Nathaniel Woods!! Great work everyone!” he tweeted.

Amazing news!! The Supreme Court has issued a stay of execution for Nathaniel Woods!! Great work everyone!

It’s not over. We must keep fighting. But Nathanial Woods will not be executed tonight.

— Martin Luther King III (@OfficialMLK3) March 5, 2020

On Monday, King sent a letter to Ivey urging her to consider halting the execution of “a man who is very likely innocent.” By the time he was set to die, nearly a 100,000 people signed on to a petition on Change.org to stop Woods’s execution.

The case even garnered attention from the likes of Kim Kardashian, who asked her Twitter followers to, “Join the broad coalition- including members of the jury and relatives of the victims – in urging @GovernorKayIvey and @AGSteveMarshall to stay Nate’s execution.”

#NathanielWoods is scheduled to be executed in Alabama TONIGHT for murders he did NOT commit. Join the broad coalition- including members of the jury and relatives of the victims – in urging @GovernorKayIvey and @AGSteveMarshall to stay Nate’s execution.

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 5, 2020