BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—A man convicted of using a sword and knife to kill a country preacher during a 1991 robbery was put to death by lethal injection in Alabama on May 30, weeks after he was initially scheduled to die.
Christopher Lee Price, 46, became the second inmate put to death in Alabama in two weeks. The execution was carried out at Holman prison and he was pronounced dead at 7:31 p.m.
When asked if he had any final words, Price replied: “A man is much more than his worst mistake, tell my wife Diane,” Montgomery Advertiser reported.
Alabama executes Christopher Lee Price for 1991 murder of Fayette County preacher Bill Lynn. Asked of for any final words, Price said “A man is much more than his worst mistake.” https://t.co/HqvxN8HNg9 via @mgmadvertiser
— Melissa Brown (@itsmelissabrown) May 31, 2019
“Tonight, the family of Pastor Bill Lynn, who was brutally murdered nearly 30 years ago, has finally seen Lynn’s killer face justice,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement.
Marshall said Price was “fighting until the very end to avoid facing the consequences of his heinous crime.”
Attorney General Steve Marshall Statement on Execution of Death Row Inmate Christopher Lee Price https://t.co/s0fTu6MOX1 pic.twitter.com/o566VaLPfO
— AG Steve Marshall (@AGSteveMarshall) May 31, 2019
.@GovernorKayIvey’s statement on Christopher Lee Price execution: Price was executed for the 1991 murder of 57-year-old Pastor Bill Lynn. pic.twitter.com/Zdr1fAIagp
— Reshad Hudson (@ReshadHudson) May 31, 2019
The Lynn family thanked friends and loved ones for their support after Price’s execution.
“Although this is not really closure, we are praying to finally have peace. Not only for us, but for the one we love and miss every day,” the family said in a statement obtained by Montgomery Advertiser.
Price, who was nearly put to death in April before an execution warrant expired, sought a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court based on a challenge to the state’s method of using three drugs during lethal injections. The nation’s high court, by a 5-4 vote, refused to halt the execution Thursday night.
Price was convicted of killing of Bill Lynn, a Church of Christ minister in rural Fayette County, on Dec. 22, 1991.
The inmate was set to be executed last month but the state death warrant expired at midnight before the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a stay that blocked the lethal injection. The court subsequently released documents that showed its internal squabbling over the death penalty.
The Alabama Supreme Court then set a new execution date.
Court documents show Lynn was at home with his wife Bessie assembling toys for grandchildren three days before Christmas when the electricity failed. He went outside to check on the power box, and the woman looked outside after hearing a noise to see a man dressed in black holding a sword above her husband.
The woman ran outside to find Lynn severely wounded, and she saw two men as she tried to start a van to flee. She was beaten and robbed of money and her wedding rings despite pleas that she be allowed to keep the jewelry, court documents show. According to an autopsy, Lynn was cut or stabbed more than 30 times.
Price was arrested several days later in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He admitted to participating in the robbery but blamed the actual killing on another man.
Kelvin Coleman pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison, while jurors convicted Price of capital murder and a judge sentenced him to death.
Earlier this month, Michael Brandon Samra was put to death by lethal injection for his capital murder conviction in a quadruple killing near Birmingham. His lawyers didn’t cite any complaints with the process following the execution.
Alabama executed one other inmate this year in February.
By Jay Reeves. NTD staff and The CNN Wire contributed to this report.
