Dallas Co. community remembers 1998 double murder

UPDATE: Jeffery Lee was executed by lethal injection at 6:22PM CDT tonight at Holman Prison in Atmore.

From the West Alabama Newsroom — The man convicted of a 1998 double murder in the town of Orrville — is scheduled to be executed by the state of Alabama.

Jeffery Lee was 21 years old when he walked into a pawn shop in Orrville — and shot three people with a sawed-off shotgun.

Former Dallas Co. Sheriff Harris Huffman was one of the first people who responded to the scene of the crime.

They found shop owner Jimmy Ellis and employees Elaine Thompson and Helen King — shot inside the business.

“Several of us got to the scene. We went inside to secure the crime scene. And Mr. Ellis was still alive at that point. But he died just a few minutes after we got there,” Huffman said.

“It was a pretty horrific scene. I mean, you had two people that were shot with a sawed-off shotgun in the chest. And the third woman fighting for her life.”

Ellis was also a successful recording artist and a big-time Elvis impersonator. He performed wearing a mask under the stage name Orion.

“Mr. Lee had 28 years to reflect on what he’s done. Mr. Ellis and Ms. Thompson, their life stopped 28 years ago.”