An Alabama death row inmate was saved from execution after a federal court ruling banned the means of the scheduled procedure. 49-year-old Jeffrey Lee was set to become the ninth person in the country who would have been executed using nitrogen gas.

Moments after a federal judge permanently blocked Jeffery Lee’s execution by nitrogen gas in Alabama, Lee told NBC News he was prepared to keep fighting.

Alabama on Friday moved to execute a man with lethal injection hours after his nitrogen gas execution was prevented from going forward.

After a week of legal volleyball, Alabama Death Row inmate Jeffery Lee’s execution — scheduled for Thursday evening — is on hold after federal courts called the state’s nitrogen gas execution method “likely unconstitutional.