January execution date for Alabama man convicted in slaying

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama has set a January execution date for an inmate convicted of the 1996 shotgun slaying of a man who towed his car after it broke down. The Alabama Supreme Court on Thursday set a Jan. 27 lethal injection date for Matthew Reeves. Reeves was sentenced to death for the November 1996 murder of Willie Johnson in Dallas County, Alabama. Prosecutors said that after Johnson gave Reeves a ride that Reeves stuck a shotgun through the rear window of the truck cab and fatally shot Johnson in the neck. In earlier court filings, Reeves’ attorneys have argued he has an IQ in the 60s and that his trial counsel failed to do enough to show he is intellectually disabled