Alabama Set to Execute Joe Nathan James Against the Wishes of His Victim’s Family

If Alabama exe­cutes Joe Nathan James on July 28, 2022 for the mur­der of Faith Hall, it can­not claim to be doing jus­tice for her or her fam­i­ly. Hall’s two daugh­ters, Terrlyn and Toni Hall (pic­tured, far left and far right) and her broth­er Helvetius Hall (pic­tured, mid­dle), oppose James’ exe­cu­tion and say Faith would oppose it, too.

“I don’t want it to go for­ward. We’re not God. The Governor is not God,” Terryln Hall told CBS 42 reporter Lee Hedgepeth. ​“Taking his life is not going to bring Faith back,” Helvetius Hall said. ​“It ain’t going to make no clo­sure for us.” 

Toni Hall agreed. ​“We shouldn’t be play­ing God. An eye for an eye has nev­er been a good out­look for life,” she said.

The Halls believe their views should hold weight in the state’s deci­sion-mak­ing process and say Governor Kay Ivey should com­mute James’ sen­tence. They have asked pros­e­cu­tors not to move for­ward with the exe­cu­tion. Faith would not have want­ed James to be exe­cut­ed, they said. ​“She would’ve for­giv­en him,” Helvetius said.

As the exe­cu­tion date approach­es, the Halls feel retrau­ma­tized and powerless. 

“It’s real­ly both­er­ing me,” Toni said. ​“To know that some­one is going to lose their life.”

James was sen­tenced to death in 1996 for the 1994 mur­der of Faith Hall, whom he had dat­ed. At the time of her mur­der, Toni and Terryln were just 3 and 6 years old, respec­tive­ly. ​“It was always good times with our mama,” Terryln said. 

“She was my back­bone,” Helvetius said. ​“She would fix what­ev­er prob­lem I had. I tru­ly miss her. … We real­ly didn’t have noth­ing grow­ing up, but we had each oth­er. Whatever the sit­u­a­tion, she was able to talk with sense. I was a hot­head, but she would tell me how to han­dle things. I miss that.”

Faith Hall’s mur­der has had last­ing impact — Toni called them ​“trick­le-down effects” — on each of their lives. She is more guard­ed in inti­mate rela­tion­ships and with who she lets around her chil­dren. Each of the fam­i­ly mem­bers have made the emo­tion­al jour­ney from hatred to for­give­ness. ​“For years, I hat­ed him,” Terryln said. ​“But as I got old­er and start­ed liv­ing my life and rais­ing my own kids, I had to find it in my heart to for­give this man.”

Hedgepeth reports that the Halls plan to trav­el to the prison on July 28, 2022 to hear James’ last words and they intend to leave the wit­ness room before the exe­cu­tion takes place. They want James to know that, while his actions hurt them bad­ly, they do not hate him and wish he was not being executed.

“We’re pray­ing for his fam­i­ly,” Helvetius said.