The governor of Alabama commuted the death sentence of a 75-year-old inmate who was set to be executed this week, even though he was not in the building when the victim of the murder he was sentenced for was killed.
Kay Ivey, the Republican governor of the state, reduced Charles “Sonny” Burton’s sentence to life in prison without possibility of parole this week. The move marks the second time the governor has granted clemency of a death row inmate since she took office in 2017.
Burton was sentenced to death for the 1991 shooting death of a customer, Doug Battle, during a store robbery. However, another man, Derrick DeBruce, shot Battle after Burton had left the store.
DeBruce’s death sentence was reduced on appeal to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Ivey said in a statement that she could not fairly administer the death penalty to Burton when the man who actually killed Battle was allowed to live.
“I firmly believe that the death penalty is just punishment for society’s most heinous offenders, as shown by the 25 executions I have presided over as governor. In order to ensure the continued viability of the death penalty, however, I also believe that a government’s most consequential action must be administered fairly and proportionately,” she said.
Burton was set to be executed by nitrogen gas on Thursday night. Over the past months, Burton’s case has gained national attention, and many advocates and criminal justice voiced opposition to his execution. Last week, protesters gathered outside of the governor’s mansion in an effort to urge Ivey to save Burton’s life.
The daughter of the victim, Tori Battle, even wrote an op-ed in the Montgomery Adviser asking Ivey to commute Burton’s sentence.
In her piece, Battle wrote: “My love for my father does not require another death, especially one that defies reason. Mercy does not dishonor him. It honors the values he taught me.”
Alabama has carried out 83 executions since the US supreme court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
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