Andrew Lackey's execution late last month was the first in Alabama since 2011, when the state had six executions.
Assistant Attorney General Clay Crenshaw says executions have slowed because of challenges to the way Alabama conducts executions.
Bryan Stevenson of Montgomery is an anti-death penalty attorney, and he says challenges have included questions about the drugs used. Attorneys say courts allowed Lackey's execution to proceed mainly because he had dropped his appeals. They say they expect legal challenges to continue to slow the overall pace of Alabama executions.
Lackey was executed July 25 by lethal injection at Holman Prison in Atmore for the 2005 shooting and beating death of an 80-year-old Limestone County man.
