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MONTGOMERY — Attorney General Troy King requested execution dates Friday for three Alabama death row inmates, a move that followed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for use of lethal injection.

King said he has asked the Alabama Supreme Court to set execution dates for death row inmates Jimmy Dill, convicted in Jefferson County, Phillip Hallford of Dale County and Willie McNair of Henry County.

King said the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in a Kentucky case Wednesday removes any question as to the constitutionality of Alabama's lethal injection protocol.

In a statement, King said his office is "committed to moving swiftly to deliver justice for the victims who suffered at the hands of these wicked criminals."

McNair has been on death row for 17 years for his conviction in the May 21, 1990 slaying of Ella Foy Riley, an elderly widow who lived alone and was attacked in her home.

Dill has been on death row nearly 19 years in the shooting death of Leon Shaw, who died of his injuries on Nov. 22, 198 after brain surgery.

Hallford has been on death row nearly 20 years for the April 13, 1986 shooting death of his daughter's boyfriend, 16-year-old Charles Eddie Shannon.

Death penalty opponents contend the Supreme Court's ruling Thursday left room for further challenges of lethal injection. Several inmates have suits pending that challenge Alabama's protocol.

Three Alabama death row inmates had their executions stayed when the Kentucky case was pending, including Tommy Arthur and James Harvey Callahan, who were granted stays as their executions neared on the date scheduled. Daniel Lee Siebert, who has terminal pancreatic cancer, also had his execution delayed by the Kentucky case.

While King did not include them in his request for execution dates, he said other requests will be filed in the near future.