The controversial execution of Nathaniel Woods was carried out late Thursday in Alabama just minutes after the Supreme Court denied a temporary stay, issued only hours earlier.

Woods was pronounced dead at 9:01 p.m. local time, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Advocates had argued Woods, who was convicted in the murder of three police officers in 2004, did not directly take part in the slayings and should have his execution delayed.

The decision came after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey reviewed the letter requesting a reprieve from the death sentence, but said she would allow the execution to proceed.

"Governor Ivey does not presently intend to exercise her powers of commutation or reprieve in this case," general counsel William G. Parker Jr. wrote. "While Governor Ivey reserves the right to grant clemency at any time before an execution is carried out, she has determined, based on her review of the complete record, including the matters presented in your letter, that clemency for Mr. Woods at this hour is unwarranted."

Woods, 44, was killed by lethal injection at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama.

"The fight is far from over. Nathaniel is an innocent man, and that will always be the truth. We are not giving up," the family said in a statement provided to ABC News.

Supporters were calling for Ivey to grant a reprieve. As of Thursday morning, Ivey offered no sign that she would intervene in Williams' case and it appeared the execution would go as planned.

But late Thursday, Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas issued a temporary stay in the minutes leading up to the execution of Woods, who was convicted of capital murder in the 2004 killings of three Birmingham, Alabama, police officers.

He already requested his final meal of sweet potatoes, spinach, chicken patty, chicken leg quarter, cooked apples, fries, two oranges, and orange-flavored drink, according to a statement from Alabama Department of Corrections. However, he only took one bite of the chicken and left the rest of his meal untouched, the statement read.

Woods also made calls earlier that day to his father, sister, daughter, and mother, as well as friends. His imam was expected to be the only person present at the execution.

At the news of the temporary stay, the son of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., who had joined a chorus of calls to halt the execution, praised the move.

"Amazing news!! The Supreme Court has issued a stay of execution for Nathaniel Woods!! Great work everyone!" Martin Luther King III wrote on Twitter.

A spokeswoman with the Alabama Department of Corrections told ABC News that the execution warrant did not run out until 11:59 p.m., meaning they had until then to carry out the execution once the court decided to lift the temporary stay.

On Tuesday, King sent a letter to Ivey, a Republican, reading, "I stand with hundreds of thousands of Americans across Alabama and the nation, pleading with you not to execute Nathaniel Woods."

In his letter, King, who was born in Alabama, told Ivey her state was "set to kill a man who is very likely innocent."

King told Fox News Thursday, "If a person is innocent, they should not be killed in this country. People have been killed and [hanged] for doing nothing. And in this context, if that is the prospect, we ought to at least go through the facts, go through the information, give the system the opportunity to work if it did not work."