Alabama’s Supreme Court has approved the execution of Robin “Rocky” Myers, sparking national outcry as jurors and advocates demand Governor Kay Ivey reconsider his death sentence. Myers, convicted for the 1991 murder of neighbor Ludie Mae Tucker, faces nitrogen gas execution—a punishment increasingly scrutinized as new evidence and testimonies challenge his guilt.
Key doubts emerged when juror Mae Puckett revealed to the AP:
I know he is innocent. They never proved he did it. They never proved he was in the house.Myers’ legal team argues the case is riddled with systemic failures: no physical evidence, a recanted prosecution witness, and a missed appeals deadline after his prior lawyer abandoned the case.
Decatur police found Tucker fatally stabbed in her home. Her cousin, injured during the attack, testified a man requested to use the telephone late at night. Tucker described her assailant as a short, stocky Black manbut couldn’t identify Myers.
If it was my father, [Tucker] could’ve named him,insists Myers’ son, LeAndrew Hood.
Puckett and eight jurors initially recommended life imprisonment. Yet, under Alabama’s since-abolished judicial override system, the judge imposed death. The deck was stacked against him, Puckett lamented.
Disputes over Myers’ intellectual capacity further complicate the case. While his attorneys cite IQ scores ranging 64–73 (below the death penalty threshold), Alabama insists a 2006 evaluation of 84 makes him eligible. Myers’ current lawyer, Kacey Keeton, warns:
Clemency exists as a failsafe for systemic failures. If ever there was a time to use it, it’s now.
- No forensic evidence ties Myers to the crime scene.
- A key prosecution witness retracted their testimony.
- Myers’ initial lawyer ghosted him, delaying appeals.
With Alabama’s Attorney General dismissing juror concerns as not proof,advocates stress this case epitomizes broader death penalty flaws. As nitrogen execution looms, the world watches whether Alabama heeds its jurors—or entrenches a contested conviction.