Now, nearly 30 years later, Hall and her sister — along with their uncle — oppose Alabama’s plan to execute the man who killed their mother. Unless a judge or the governor intervenes, Joe Nathan James Jr., 49, will die by lethal injection Thursday afternoon in a south Alabama prison. “We thought about it and prayed about it and found it within ourselves to forgive him for what he did. We really wish we could have done something to stop it,” Hall said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. Faith Hall briefly dated James, but he became obsessed with her, prosecutors said. On August 15, 1994, he forced his way into an apartment, pulled a gun from his waistband and shot her three times. A Jefferson County jury convicted James of murder in 1996 and voted in favor of the death penalty, which a judge imposed. The conviction was overturned when the Alabama Court of Appeals ruled that a judge improperly admitted some police reports into evidence. James was retried and sentenced to death again in 1999 when jurors rejected defense claims that he was under emotional stress at the time of the shooting. Faith Hall was 26 when she died, leaving behind two young daughters. Six-year-old Terryln Hall struggled to understand what had happened to her mother. “I knew he wasn’t coming back, but I never understood why. Why would he do that? That’s one question I want to know to this day: Why?” he said. Hall said the only real memory of her mother is as a hard worker who took care of her daughters and “whoever else was around.” “It took a big piece of us, a big piece of our heart,” he said. The road to forgiveness has been a long process for Hall. “I hated him. I did. And I know hate is such a strong word that it feels, but I really had hate in my heart. As I grew up and realized, you can’t walk around with hate in your heart. I can still live. And from the moment I had kids of my own, you know, I can’t pass that on to my kids and have them walk around with hate in their hearts,” she said. State Representative Juandalynn Givan sent a letter to Alabama Governor Kay Ivey relaying the family’s request to stop the execution. “In this case, the Hall family, in deep prayer, appreciation and conviction, asks you to spare the life of Mr. James,” Givan said in a statement. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall urged Ivey to let the execution go ahead, despite the victim’s family’s request, writing that “it is our obligation to ensure that justice is served for the people of Alabama.” The governor has not indicated what she plans to do. Ivey’s spokeswoman, Gina Maiola, wrote in an email that the governor “will carefully review all facts and information surrounding the case.” Hall realizes that asking the state to spare the life of the man who killed her mother may seem unthinkable, but she is compelled by deep convictions. “I know it might sound crazy. Do you really want this man to live? But… I just feel like we can’t play God. We can’t take a life. And it’s not going to bring my mom back,” she said.
