Alabama death row inmate's murders leaves voids in victims' families: 'I'll never forget'

Although Sherry Lawley's brother was shot to death at his workplace 25 years ago, she often finds herself looking up into the clouds above her Alabama home and dreaming of seeing him again.

"Every day I think about him," Lawley, 73, said about her brother, Terry Lee Jarvis. "There's not one day that goes by that he doesn't cross my mind. I would give my right arm if I could bring him back but I know that's not going to happen."

Jarvis, 39, was killed on the morning of Aug. 5, 1999, in the Birmingham suburb of Pelham. Alan Eugene Miller was convicted of shooting Jarvis dead just after he killed two of his other co-workers, 32-year-old Lee Holdbrooks and 28-year-old Christopher Yancy, over suspicions the three men had discussed Miller's sexuality, court records show.

Now Miller is set to become the second inmate to be executed with nitrogen gas in Alabama on Thursday.

Miller's crimes left voids in three families, and now over two decades later, he will face the consequences of his actions. As his execution approaches, USA TODAY will look at the lives of his victims and detail how their families were affected by their murders.

Who were Terry Jarvis, Lee Holdbrooks and Christopher Yancy?

Lawley told USA TODAY that her younger brother, Terry Jarvis, was the "most kind" and "generous" person she knew.

"He would give you the shirt off of his back if he could," said Lawley, a resident of Maylene in central Alabama. "He would do anything for anybody ... Terry was my baby brother, but at some point in life, it seemed like I became his baby sister because he took care of me."

Lawley said she loved her four brothers during their upbringing in Dogwood, Alabama, but she and Jarvis were "very close."

"He never forgot my birthday," she recalled. "When he'd come home from work he'd throw me over his shoulder like a big ol' bear. Terry was just my love."

Jarvis did not have kids but was married once, his sister said.

USA TODAY was unable to reach family members of Lee Holdbrooks or Christopher Yancy, but both of them died as young and married men. Holdbrooks and his wife didn't have children but Yancy and his had two, according to the men's obituaries.

What happened to Terry Jarvis, Lee Holdbrooks and Christopher Yancy?

Holdbrooks and Yancy were coworkers of Miller's at Ferguson Enterprises, while Miller and Jarvis formerly worked together at Post Airgas, a welding supply store.

On the morning of Aug. 5, 1999, the bodies of Holdbrooks and Yancy were found with gunshot wounds inside Ferguson Enterprises by another coworker, according to court documents.

Once Miller killed his current coworkers, he went to Post Airgas looking for Jarvis. When Miller arrived, he approached the sales counter and called out Jarvis, saying: “Hey, I hear you've been spreading rumors about me,” court records say.

Jarvis replied that he had not, and that's when Miller shot him several times, the document continued.

Pelham police arrested Miller after finding him driving in his truck. Once Miller was handcuffed, officers said they found a Glock lying on the driver's seat and an empty ammunition magazine on the passenger seat.

What happened to the families of Terry Jarvis and Christopher Yancy?

Jarvis' death tore his family up, but they remained together during that unfathomable time, according to his sister.

"It was just like a piece of my heart was missing that I won't ever get back," Lawley said. "We were still a close family but it was just totally different without Terry. His chair was empty on holidays around the table."

In addition to losing Jarvis, Lawley said her father did not live much longer after her younger brother's murder.

Yancy's family also suffered another tragedy following his murder when his wife, Kim, was killed at the age of 38 in a car accident in 2012, according to the Shelby County Reporter.

"It was a strong family," the Rev. Chris Joiner, the pastor of the Alabama church Yancy and his family attended in 1999, told USA TODAY. "They were very loving and attentive to one another."

Joiner recalled Yancy being "a big boy" who was very loving to the point that he said some described him as a "big teddy bear type." He also remembered Yancy being a blue-collar family man who was hard-working and "deeply committed to his faith."

After Yancy's death, Joiner said he and the church helped his family navigate the tragedy.

"The shock of all of that and the violence of it was hard for them, especially to hear about and to absorb," Joiner said about Yancy's family in 1999. "They had a range of emotions."

'I don't know quite how to feel'

With Miller's execution only days away, Lawley said: "I don't know how to feel."

"I don't know how to feel about it, I really don't," she said. "I don't know if it'll give me closure or what. I know it needs to happen, and on one hand, I want it to happen, but I just don't know what to feel about it."

Regardless of Lawley's emotions come Thursday, she said she will be "glad for it to be over."

Lawley does not plan on attending Miller's execution. It is unclear if any members of Holdbrook's or Yancy's families will be in attendance.

"I've always said 'I wanted to be there,'" Lawley said. "Over the years, I've changed my mind about that. I feel sorry for his (Miller's) parents."