Alabama death row inmate gives thumbs-up, says 'Love y'all' before execution

An Alabama man was executed Thursday for the 2004 murders of an elderly couple who were beaten to death and robbed of $140 and some medication.

Jamie Ray Mills, 50, died by lethal injection at 6:26 p.m., becoming the second inmate executed in the state and the sixth in the country this year. At least another 10 executions and counting are set for the rest of 2024, including two more in Alabama.

Marty Roney, a reporter with the Montgomery Advertiser ? part of the USA TODAY Network ? was among the witnesses to Mills' execution and said that it went off according to the state's plan. There appeared to be no problem or issues with the lethal injection administration, he said.

Mills, who always maintained his innocence, was executed for the deaths of Floyd and Vera Hill, an elderly couple fatally bludgeoned in June 2004 at their home in Guin, about 80 miles northwest of Montgomery.

“For the past 20 years our family has been seeking justice,” according to a statement from the Hill family read at a news conference following the execution. “Justice has been served."

Here's what to know about the execution, Mills' last meal and last words, the case and the victims.

Jamie Mills' last meal, last words before death

Jamie Mills met with his two brothers, sister, a sister-in-law and a spiritual advisor before his execution on Thursday. Some of the family members and Mills' attorney were among those who witnessed the execution.

Mills' last meal was an assortment of seafood, including three large shrimp, two catfish filets, three oysters, three onion rings and one stuffed crab, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.

Mills, who was strapped to a gurney and could see his witnesses through a large window, used his last words to tell his family how much he loved them, according to Roney.

"I love my family. I love my brother and sister. I couldn’t ask for anything more," Mills said. "I love y’all. Carry on."

He prayed with his spiritual advisor for the last time, winked at him, and then faced his witnesses again and gave the thumbs-up sign. He threw a thumbs-up to his family members several times before he lost consciousness as the execution drugs made their way through his system.

A consciousness check was conducted by a guard at 6:14 p.m., seven minutes after the execution began, where he was touched and pinched to see if he was still breathing. By then, he was taking "very shallow breaths," Roney said.

"Several of Mills witnesses sobbed during the execution," Roney said. He appeared to take his final breath at 6:16 p.m. but wasn't declared dead until 6:26 p.m.

Capital punishment 'has never been more deserved,' attorney general says

Mills' assigned punishment, death by lethal injection, has "never been more deserved," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement.

"The depth of violence experienced by Mr. and Mrs. Hill at the hands of this murderer cannot be understated," he said. "Mills used a machete, tire tool, and ball-peen hammer to mercilessly end the lives of two people. His actions were cold and calculated."

Marshall called the Hills' murders "heinous" and that Mills left the elderly couple to die as part of a "senseless robbery-murder."

"I extend my deepest sympathy to the Hill family as they have endured the unimaginable for nearly 20 years as they awaited justice to finally be served," Marshall said.

Alabama governor says Jamie Mills was 'undoubtedly guilty'

Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement after the execution that "Jamie Mills has paid the price for his heinous crimes" and that he was "undoubtedly guilty."

“Almost 20 years ago, the grandchildren of Floyd and Vera Hill, worried for their grandparents, filed a missing-person report only for police to discover the couple had been brutally and horrendously beaten to death," Ivey said. “I pray for the victims and their loved ones.”

Jamie Mills asked for 'basic protections' for death row inmates

The Equal Justice Initiative, the law firm representing Mills, said in a statement after the execution that their client asked federal courts to "provide some basic protections" for him, including limiting the amount of time he had to spend on the execution gurney and to allow his layers to be present.

"Courts rejected these requests, allowing Alabama’s unapologetic state officials to once again start a process of killing a human being with uncertainty about what level of torture and cruelty will take place," the attorneys said.

Mills, they said, is just the latest example of an person who was "needlessly killed" by Alabama officials, who "comfortably tolerate state deception, violation of the law, and breach of fundamental constitutional rights in an effort to carry out a death sentence they claim upholds the rule of law."

"There will come a day when governments recognize the perverse injustice of this process and the wrongfulness of this punishment," they continued. "It will be a day that is too late for Jamie Mills, which makes his death tragically regrettable and mournfully unjust."

The beating deaths of Floyd and Vera Hill

Married for 55 years, Floyd and Vera Hill were devoted to each other, with the sprightly 87-year-old Floyd acting as caretaker for 72-year-old Vera, who was diabetic and in poor health.

When Jamie Ray Mills and his wife JoAnn came knocking on June 24, 2004, asking to use their phone, the couple kindly obliged, only to be viciously attacked a short time later, court records show.

Jamie Mills ambushed Floyd Hill in the shed, attacking him with a ball peen hammer, a tire tool and a machete, court records say. The women, who were walking toward the home, heard a loud noise, and turned back.

Jamie Mills then attacked Vera, hitting her in the back of the head with the hammer, striking her repeatedly until she crumpled to the ground, court records say.

Floyd Hill died instantly, while Vera Hill clung to life for a few more months, dying from complications brought on by the attack.

The Mills were intercepted by law enforcement the following day as they were getting ready to leave their home in a car carrying the items stolen from the Hills and the suspected murder weapons.

Prosecutors said the Mills had spent the night before the murders high and smoking meth, and that the couple were looking for a way to get more money for drugs, deciding to rob the Hills because they were known to have cash stashed at home.

What happened at trial?

Mills' trial attorney, John Wiley, argued to jurors that Mills didn't deserve the death penalty for a number of reasons: Mills was on drugs and couldn't have known what he was doing, he was under extreme stress from things that "were stacking up against him," and he had two then-teenage sons who could learn from their father how not to go down the wrong path, Wiley argued

Additionally, Wiley told jurors that it would be morally wrong for them to recommend the death penalty.

"A recommendation of a death sentence for Jamie Mills is you killing another man, and it's wrong and it’s immoral and it’s barbaric and you shouldn’t do it and you’re going to be held accountable for it if you do," he told them.

Since his conviction, Mills has filed numerous unsuccessful appeals both at the state and federal level, alleging that he had nothing to do with the Hills' deaths and arguing that the key witness against him ? his own wife ? was lying on the stand.

Jack Bostick, the district attorney who argued for the death penalty against Mills, told jurors that there was no doubt about Mills' guilt, and that the crime went far beyond the bounds of something like a shooting death.

"This was up close, this was savage, this was personal ? to take a ballpeen hammer, a rusty machete, a rusty lug wrench and repeatedly cut and beat on two human beings ? it’s not a random act of violence," he said. "It's deliberate, It's beyond brutal, beyond savage ... It's almost beyond imagination that anyone could be that cruel to another human being, to have that done to them."

He added: "The Hills didn't have a chance."

Contributing: Marty Rony and Amanda Lee Myers

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jamie Ray Mills executed by lethal injection in Alabama