Appeals court won’t halt upcoming Alabama execution

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal appeals court has declined to halt the upcoming execution of an Alabama man convicted of killing an elderly couple during a robbery. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied two separate requests for an execution stay for 50-year-old Jamie Ray Mills. Angie Setzer, a senior attorney with the Equal Justice Initiative, says they are disappointed in the decisions and will appeal. Mills is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection Thursday evening in Alabama. Mills was convicted of capital murder for the 2004 slaying of Floyd and Vera Hill in Guin, a small city located about 82 miles (132 kilometers) northwest of Birmingham.