The Alabama governor, Kay Ivey, on Friday commuted the death sentence of Robin “Rocky” Myers to life in prison after noting questions about his case.

Ivey said Myers, who was facing execution this spring, will instead spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. She noted that was the sentence jurors at his 1994 trial had recommended. A judge overruled that recommendation and imposed a death sentence, a maneuver that has since been outlawed in Alabama, according to the human rights advocacy organization Amnesty International.

The decision came after ongoing questions about the case that included a lack of physical evidence at the crime scene tying him to the 1991 murder of Ludie Mae Tucker in Decatur, Alabama. Myers had long maintained he was innocent, and a juror at his 1994 trial supported the push for clemency.

“In short, I am not convinced that Mr Myers is innocent, but I am not so convinced of his guilt as to approve of his execution,” Ivey said in a statement. “I therefore must respect both the jury’s decision to convict him and its recommendation that he be sentenced to life without parole.”

Ivey, a Republican who has never previously stopped an execution, called it “one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make as governor”.

“But it pales in comparison to the pain and suffering Ludie Mae Tucker and Marie Dutton endured on the night of [4 October 1991] – and to the many hardships the Tucker family has endured at the hands of our imperfect justice system,” Ivey said.

“I pray that the Tucker family may, in some way, find closure and peace knowing this case is closed, and Mr Myers will spend the rest of his life in prison.”

The Alabama supreme court earlier in February authorized Myers’ execution by nitrogen hypoxia. The next step was for the governor to set the execution date.