Alabama to carry out first lethal injection after review of execution procedures

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama plans to execute an inmate for the 2001 beating death of a woman as the state seeks to carry out its first lethal injection after a pause following a string of problems with inserting the IVs. Sixty-four-year-old James Barber is set to be put to death Thursday evening at a south Alabama prison. It is the first execution scheduled in the state since Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey paused executions in November to conduct an internal review. The state called off two lethal injections because of difficulties inserting IVs into the condemned men’s veins. Advocacy groups claim a third execution was botched. Barber was convicted in the 2001 beating death of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps.