Alabama inmate set to die for slayings of 3 police officers

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) – Alabama is set to execute an inmate for the murders of three police officers who were shot by another man in a hail of gunfire.

Nathaniel Woods is scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday night unless courts or the governor intervene.

Woods and Kerry Spencer were sentenced to death in the slaying of three Birmingham police officers in 2004.

Evidence showed Spencer shot the men. But prosecutors say Woods helped set an ambush and should die for the killings even though he didn’t pull the trigger.

Such convictions are allowed under state law. Supporters including the son of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. are appealing for mercy.

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