Four police officers: Harley Chisholm III, Charles Bennett, Carlos Owen, and Michael Collins, had a verbal confrontation with Woods while trying to serve an outstanding arrest warrant against another individual, who was not present, at a crack house on 18th Street.

[11] At the time, Woods and four other people - Kerry Spencer, Fernando Belser, Marquita McClure and Markesha Williams - were inside.

After the confrontation the officers ran Woods' name through a police database and found that he had an outstanding arrest warrant against him, deciding to return to the apartment to detain him.

[10] The prosecution conceded that it was Spencer who had opened fire on the officers, but accused Woods of luring them to their deaths while refusing to cooperate with a valid arrest warrant.

[2] Spencer was called by the defense but refused to testify, citing his right against self-incrimination; the court allowed his testimony at his own trial, in which he had maintained that he acted alone, to be read out instead.

Woods took the stand in his own defense, but rather than offer contrition or commiserate the sorrow of the victim's family's loss as his lawyers had advised him, he instead claimed he had "no feeling about the officers" and that if they needed to take his blood, "so be it".

After Cooper was involved in a shoot-out and arrested on attempted murder charges, the deal fell apart when the officers allegedly raised the price.

[11] One witness, Marquita McClure, who had been present during Woods' initial confrontation with the officers and testified that he had expressed his intent to kill them if they came back, later stated that she had lied because she was afraid she would be sent to prison for violating her probation.

Some civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King III, urged Alabama governor Kay Ivey to commute his death sentence.

Ivey told Woods's attorney she denied his request for clemency, arguing that he was an "integral participant in the intentional murder of these three officers", and calling him a "known drug dealer."

Ivey also pointed out that over the 15 years that Woods had spent on death row, his conviction had been reviewed "at least nine times", with no court finding any reason to overturn the jury's decision.

On the contrary, Andrea Elders, the daughter of deceased officer Carlos Owen, believes Woods was "the whole entire reason" that the murders occurred.

[18][19] Hours before Woods's death, the United States Supreme Court temporarily halted the execution, but later denied a stay.

[10] Martin Luther King III criticized the execution, writing, "the actions of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Governor of the State of Alabama are reprehensible and have potentially contributed to an irreversible injustice".

[6] Further criticism came from Kim Kardashian, who had championed Woods's case, commenting after the stay of execution was lifted, "My heart and prayers are with Nate and his family.

"[15] During Woods's trial, his state appointed appellate lawyer abandoned him and failed to file a brief on his behalf, consequently preventing the Alabama Supreme Court from reviewing his case.

[14] On December 3, 2021, a documentary by The New York Times about the case of Nathaniel Woods titled To Live and Die in Alabama was released on Hulu and FX.