Alabama sets nitrogen gas execution date for man in 1991 killing, even though he didn't pull the trigger
CBSN
Alabama has scheduled a March execution date for a man sentenced to death for a fatal shooting during a 1991 robbery even though he didn't pull the trigger. In:
Alabama has scheduled a March execution date for a man sentenced to death for a fatal shooting during a 1991 robbery even though he didn't pull the trigger.
Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday set a March 12 execution using nitrogen gas for Charles "Sonny" Burton, 75. Burton was convicted as an accomplice in the shooting death of Doug Battle, a customer who was killed during an Aug. 16 robbery that year of an auto parts store in Talladega.
Burton did not shoot Battle and was not in the AutoZone store at the time of the fatal shooting. However, prosecutors depicted him as the ringleader of the robbery and sought a death sentence for him. Derrick DeBruce, the man who fired the gun also was sentenced to death but later had his sentence reduced to life imprisonment and died in prison.
A cross-section of people, including one of the victim's children and some jurors, had urged the governor to consider clemency for Burton. They argued it would be unfair to execute Burton when the triggerman ended up receiving a lesser sentence.
"We are very disappointed that Governor Ivey has opted to set an execution date for Mr. Burton. But we hope and pray that she, like Oklahoma Governor Stitt did in November, still changes her mind and stops this unjust execution of a man who has never taken a life," Matt Schulz, Burton's attorney, said.
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