Ray, convicted of three murders 20 years ago, had lost a variety of appeals alleging prosecutorial misconduct and inadequate counsel. On Thursday night, his request to have an imam in the execution chamber was also denied.
At 9:44 Thursday night, the curtain opened on the execution chamber at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. Domineque Ray lay strapped to a gurney, according to his lawyer, who was present. Looking into the witness room, Ray pointed his right index finger — an Islamic gesture to show the “oneness” of God — and spoke in Arabic, “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the prophet.”
Ray, convicted of three murders committed as a teenager, was soon dead by lethal injection, his last moments having been sealed by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier that day. Ray’s lawyers had won a stay from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after arguing that the prison’s refusal to allow an imam to be with him in the chamber was a violation of religious freedom protections. But in a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court found that Ray’s appeal on religious grounds had come too late.