Alabama has scheduled an August execution with nitrogen gas for a man convicted three decades ago of shooting a woman in the head while she slept.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey set a Aug. 21 execution date for David Lee Roberts after the Alabama Supreme Court authorized the execution. If carried out, it would be the nation’s seventh execution by nitrogen gas, a method Alabama began using last year as an alternative to lethal injection.
Roberts, 59, was convicted of killing Annetra Jones in 1992 while a houseguest at Jones’ boyfriend’s home in Marion County. There have been 25 executions so far in 2025 in the United States.
Prosecutors said on the afternoon of April 22, 1992, Roberts came to the home, packed his belongings, stole money and shot Jones three times in the head with a .22 caliber rifle while she slept on the couch. Prosecutors said he poured gasoline or another flammable liquid on the floor and Jones’ body and set fire to the home to hide evidence.
A jury convicted Roberts of capital murder. Jurors voted 7-5 to recommend that he receive life in prison without possibility of parole. A judge overrode the recommendation and sentenced him to death. Alabama no longer allows a judge to override a jury’s sentence in capital cases.
The Alabama Supreme Court authorized Roberts’ execution at the request of the state attorney general's office, which argued he has exhausted his appeals.
Roberts’ attorney had asked for a delay, arguing that Roberts, who has a paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis, is “probably incompetent to be executed” and should have an evaluation. The U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited the execution of a prisoner who is insane and not aware of his impending execution and of the reasons for it.
Roberts has a well-established history of psychotic illness, and his mental health has deteriorated after decades on Alabama’s death row, his lawyer wrote. A doctor diagnosed him in February with paranoid schizophrenia.
“On February 17, 2025, an ADOC psychologist who saw Mr. Roberts cell-side noted that he was ‘hearing voices,” ranting, thinking illogically, and delusional,’" a lawyer representing Roberts wrote in court filing.
The state acknowledged that prison records indicate Roberts has been diagnosed with various mental illnesses but argued that doesn’t mean he is incompetent.
“Roberts may well have a mental disease, but that doesn’t mean he is unaware of his situation or incapable of trying to prevent his execution,” a state lawyer wrote.
Last year Alabama became the first state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas, a method that involves pumping nitrogen through a face mask and depriving the inmate of oxygen. The method has now been used in six executions — five in Alabama and one in Louisiana.
Roberts selected nitrogen as his preferred execution method over the other options, lethal injection or the electric chair. He made the selection before Alabama developed procedures for the method.
In this undated photo from the Alabama Department of Corrections, David Lee Roberts, who was convicted of capital murder for the 1992 shooting death of Annetra Jones, is scheduled in Alabama for an Aug. 21, 2025, execution using nitrogen gas. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP)
HOUSTON (AP) — Former Uvalde, Texas, schools police Officer Adrian Gonzales was among the first officers to arrive at Robb Elementary after a gunman opened fire on students and teachers.
Prosecutors allege that instead of rushing in to confront the shooter, Gonzales failed to take action to protect students. Many families of the 19 fourth-grade students and two teachers who were killed believe that if Gonzales and the nearly 400 officers who responded had confronted the gunman sooner instead of waiting more than an hour, lives might have been saved.
More than 3½ years since the killings, the first criminal trial over the delayed law enforcement response to one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history is set to begin.
It’s a rare case in which a police officer could be convicted for allegedly failing to act to stop a crime and protect lives.
Here’s a look at the charges and the legal issues surrounding the trial.
Gonzales was charged with 29 counts of child endangerment for those killed and injured in the May 2022 shooting. The indictment alleges he placed children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the shooter and by not following his active shooter training. The indictment says he did not advance toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told where the shooter was located.
Each child endangerment count carries a potential sentence of up to two years in prison.
State and federal reviews of the shooting cited cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology and questioned why officers from multiple agencies waited so long before confronting and killing the gunman, Salvador Ramos.
Gonzales’ attorney, Nico LaHood, said his client is innocent and public anger over the shooting is being misdirected.
“He was focused on getting children out of that building,” LaHood, said. “He knows where his heart was and what he tried to do for those children.”
Jury selection in Gonzales’ trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 5 in Corpus Christi, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Uvalde. The trial was moved after defense attorneys argued Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde.
Gonzales, 52, and former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo are the only officers charged. Arredondo was charged with multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment. His trial has not been scheduled, and he is also seeking a change of venue.
Prosecutors have not explained why only Gonzales and Arredondo were charged. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s “extremely unusual” for an officer to stand trial for not taking an action, said Sandra Guerra Thompson, a University of Houston Law Center professor.
“At the end of the day, you’re talking about convicting someone for failing to act and that’s always a challenge,” Thompson said, “because you have to show that they failed to take reasonable steps.”
Phil Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University who maintains a nationwide database of roughly 25,000 cases of police officers arrested since 2005, said a preliminary search found only two similar prosecutions.
One involved a Florida sheriff’s deputy, Scot Peterson, who was charged after the 2018 Parkland school massacre for allegedly failing to confront the shooter — the first such prosecution in the U.S. for an on-campus shooting. He was acquitted by a jury in 2023.
The other was the 2022 conviction of former Baltimore police officer Christopher Nguyen for failing to protect an assault victim. The Maryland Supreme Court overturned that conviction in July, ruling prosecutors had not shown Nguyen had a legal duty to protect the victim.
The justices in Maryland cited a prior U.S. Supreme Court decision on the public duty doctrine, which holds that government officials like police generally owe a duty to the public at large rather than to specific individuals unless a special relationship exists.
Michael Wynne, a Houston criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor not involved in the case, said securing a conviction will be difficult.
“This is clearly gross negligence. I think it’s going to be difficult to prove some type of criminal malintent,” Wynne said.
But Thompson, the law professor, said prosecutors may nonetheless be well positioned.
“You’re talking about little children who are being slaughtered and a very long delay by a lot of officers,” she said. “I just feel like this is a different situation because of the tremendous harm that was done to so many children.”
Associated Press writer Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed.
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FILE - Flowers are placed around a welcome sign outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 25, 2022, to honor the victims killed in a shooting at the school. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Velma Lisa Duran, sister of Robb Elementary teacher Irma Garcia, cries as she reflects on the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, school shooting during an interview on Dec. 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Kin Man Hui)
Velma Lisa Duran, sister of Robb Elementary teacher Irma Garcia, poses with photos of her sister and brother-in-law, Joe Garcia, as she reflects on the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, school shooting on Dec. 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Kin Man Hui)
FILE - This booking image provided by the Uvalde County, Texas, Sheriff's Office shows Adrian Gonzales, a former police officer for schools in Uvalde, Texas. (Uvalde County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
FILE - Crosses with the names of shooting victims are placed outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
