Alabama execution called off as death warrant expires after 'issues accessing veins'

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Alan Miller was sentenced to death row for the 1999 shooting deaths of three men in Shelby County, Alabama.

Hours after approval from a divided U.S. Supreme Court, the state of Alabama called off the execution of Alan Eugene Miller citing issues accessing his veins and time restraints.

Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) Commissioner John Hamm said there were issues accessing Miller's veins and the lethal injection protocol was not going to complete before the death warrant expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, according to Fox 6 in Birmingham.

Miller is reportedly alive and back in his cell at Holman Correctional Facility.



Gov. Kay Ivey released a statement early Friday morning shortly after ADOC announced the execution had been called off. Ivey's office said she anticipates the execution will be reset at the earliest opportunity.

"In Alabama, we are committed to law and order and upholding justice. Despite the circumstances that led to the cancelation of this execution, nothing will change the fact that a jury heard the evidence of this case and made a decision," Ivey said. "It does not change the fact that Mr. Miller never disputed his crimes. And it does not change the fact that three families still grieve. We all know full well that Michael Holdbrooks, Terry Lee Jarvis and Christopher Scott Yancey did not choose to die by bullets to the chest."