Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has instructed Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm to execute David Lee Roberts, after the Alabama Supreme Court signed his death warrant.
Roberts is currently on death row for the 1992 murder of Annetra Jones and will be the fourth person to face the state’s death chamber this year.
“The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections is authorized to carry out David Lee Roberts’s sentence of death within a time frame set by the Governor of the State of Alabama,” his death warrant reads.
The warrant adds that the Governor had to designate a period beginning no sooner than 30 days from the date of the order to carry out Roberts’ execution.
Ivey set a 30-hour timeframe for officials to carry out the execution, beginning at midnight on August 21, 2025, and ending at 6 a.m. on August 22, 2025.
Roberts is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen gas.
Although the jury initially recommended life imprisonment by a 7–5 vote, a judge overruled and imposed the death penalty, according to AL.com.
Court records detail how Roberts shot Jones three times, attempted to burn her body and the home she lived in, then confessed to the crime during interrogations by investigators.
During Roberts’ trial, his defense noted that he suffers from severe, inherited mental illness, including persistent hallucinations and delusions — conditions they argue were not fully considered during his sentencing. They’ve also noted that several jurors would have preferred a life sentence over execution.
Roberts initially claimed he acted under the threat of Jones’s boyfriend, Wendell Satterfield, who he said had endangered his family, according to Roberts’ case file.
Advocacy groups supporting clemency say his mental health history should weigh heavily in reconsidering the execution, calling attention to ethical and legal concerns surrounding executing individuals with longstanding psychiatric disorders.
While Ivey has said she has no current plans to grant clemency in Roberts’ case, she does retain the authority to grant a reprieve or commutation if she finds it necessary at any time before the execution is carried out.
