Photo Credit: Alabama Dept Of Corrections via AP Images
Rest in peace Nathaniel Woods.
Nate Woods, 44, was executed last night despite efforts by celebrities, activists and civil rights groups. Woods was convicted for a crime he did not commit and executed, even after a his co-defendant said that he acted as a lone gunman.
Kim Kardashian, T.I. and Martin Luther King III took to social media in hopes to bring media attention to the case but sadly, the system failed Nate anyway.
#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
Governor Ivey cannot allow the execution of Nate Woods. Please call 334-242-7100 and ask to grant him a reprieve, and tag @GovernorKayIvey. We must stop this injustice before it is too late. Please Retweet. #SaveNate https://t.co/pyCTYyhEhr
— Martin Luther King III (@OfficialMLK3) March 3, 2020
Woods was convicted back in 2005 for the 2004 murder of three Birmingham, Alabama police officers. His friend and co-defendant Kerry Spencer testified that he was the won who killed the officers with no help from Woods. During his trial, prosecutors claimed Woods was the “mastermind” of the crime and that lured the officers into a house to be killed. Spencer has repeatedly said that Woods had absolutely no involvement and that ran from the scene as soon as he heard the shooting taking place. Despite there being an insurmountable amount of evidence proving Wood’s innocence a jury still voted 10-2 in favor of the death penalty.
In the weeks leading up to the execution, journalist Shaun King covered Nate’s story and urged him followers to Governor Ivey of Alabama to grant Nate a stay of execution. The Supreme Court eventually did issued a temporary stay of execution just hours before it was scheduled to happen, but then lifted it after Governor Ivey called it “unwarranted,” only moments before the execution was scheduled to take place.
Rest in peace Nate Woods and prayers to his family.
Nate Woods was unarmed, non-violent, and had surrendered to police when a shootout began.
He never touched a gun.
Never shot one.
Never encouraged anyone to do so. Nobody has ever said otherwise.Moments from now, the State of Alabama is about to lynch this man anyway.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 6, 2020
BREAKING: @GovernorKayIvey has announced that she will NOT be issuing a stay of execution for Nate Woods tonight.
It is not all in the hands of the courts.
Go now to https://t.co/idetUgk7tj OK?
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 6, 2020
Oh my God.
The Supreme Court just lifted the stay of execution and Nate Woods is scheduled to be executed any minute now.
We are crushed.
Only @GovernorKayIvey can stop it now. It appears she won’t.
Call her now @ (334) 605-8572
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 6, 2020
And it is done.
The State of Alabama just executed an innocent man. Nate Woods is dead.
We are crushed that Nate experienced this grizzly injustice and crushed for his family.
This is a modern day lynching. He broke no laws, at all. Never fired a gun. And surrendered.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 6, 2020
The State of Alabama began their process of murdering Nate Woods at 9:38 PM EST.
He was not officially pronounced dead until 10:01 PM.
23 cruel minutes.
It’s one of the most grizzly acts of injustice in modern American history.
He didn’t break a single law.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 6, 2020
The family of Nate Woods is literally on the floor sobbing, uncontrollably.
Utter devastation.
He was a father, a grandfather, a brother, a son, a friend, a treasured loved one.
And he was just murdered by the State of Alabama for a crime he did not commit.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 6, 2020
The final words of Nate Woods.
He wrote this poem for us and shared it with his dear sister, Pamela, in case the State of Alabama murdered him last night.
It's called, "The Man He Killed."https://t.co/D1LHTjNLQ4
He asked us to share it with the world.
Please retweet.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 6, 2020
I AM LIVID.
The family and attorney of Nate Woods just told me that the State of Alabama is performing a forced autopsy on Nate's body against their wishes, and against the practices of his Muslim faith.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 6, 2020