Kim Kardashian paid tribute to convicted cop killer Nathaniel Woods, who was executed by lethal injection on Alabama’s death row late Thursday, March 5, despite heroic attempts by celebrities and politicians to save him.
Woods was pronounced dead at 10:01 p.m., 23 minutes after the execution process began. For his last meal, the 44-year-old requested sweet potatoes, spinach, chicken patty and leg quarter, cooked apples, fries, two oranges and an orange-flavored drink. But he only took one bite, according to ABC News.
Kardashian and other Woods supporters vented their anger and frustration at Alabama Governor Kay Ivey for refusing to halt Woods’ execution after the Supreme Court lifted a last-minute stay of execution.
The 39-year-old reality star, who is known for her criminal justice reform activism, took to Twitter to mourn the Alabama man, who was sentenced to death after being convicted of fatally shooting three police officers in June 2004.
“Nate will die for a crime another man confessed to and says Nate had nothing to do with. My heart and prayers are with Nate and his family and all the advocates who worked tirelessly to save his life,” she wrote, before adding in a later tweet: “RIP Nathaniel Woods.”
Despite her claims that Woods was innocent, media reports stated that Woods actively participated in the murder of three police officers Carlos Owen, Harley Chisolm and Charles Bennett.
Four officers went to Woods’ apartment on the morning of June 4, 2004 to serve a misdemeanor warrant on the known crack dealer. While inside the apartment, Woods’ roommate Kerry Spencer opened fire on the cops with a shotgun.
A surviving officer testified that Woods pointed out one of the officers for Spencer to shoot. Two of the officers were shot in the back. Woods and Spencer fled the apartment. Woods then surrendered to cops.
Spencer confessed to being the triggerman. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. He now sits on Alabama’s death row. Woods was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.
Per Alabama law (and other jurisdictions), a criminal who participates in a capital murder is charged with capital murder as if his finger pulled the trigger.
While it was Spencer who committed the murders, prosecutors argued that Woods previously bragged about killing cops and it was his idea to ambush the officers.
Woods made headline news this week after Martin Luther King Jr’s son took up his cause.
Transracial activist Shaun King pleaded with his followers to call Gov. Ivey and ask her to halt the execution. But it was too little too late.
After Woods was executed, King vented his anger on Twitter.com.
“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.”
Bernice King, youngest daughter of MLK, tweeted: “We must eradicate the #DeathPenalty in the U.S.”
She quoted her late mother, Coretta Scott King: “As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder and assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses.” #CorettaScottKing #SaveNate.”
We must eradicate the #DeathPenalty in the U.S.
“As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder and assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses.” #CorettaScottKing #SaveNate pic.twitter.com/SrfkkOSBGm
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) March 5, 2020
