MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday 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 was killed during a 1991 robbery.
Ivey reduced Charles “Sonny” Burton’s sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole, marking just the second time the Republican governor has granted clemency to a death row inmate since taking office in 2017.
Burton was sentenced to death for the shooting death of a customer, Doug Battle, during the robbery of an AutoZone auto parts store in Talladega. Though he had left the store before another man, Derrick DeBruce, killed Battle, Burton was convicted as an accomplice, with prosecutors portraying Burton as a leader of the robbery.
Both DeBruce and Burton were convicted of capital murder, but DeBruce’s sentence was overturned on appeal. DeBruce was resentenced to life in prison and died in prison.
Ivey, who has presided over 25 executions, said she firmly believes in the death penalty as "just punishment for society’s most heinous offenders," but said it also must be administered fairly and proportionately. The Republican governor said she “cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances.”
“I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not,” Ivey said in a statement. “To be clear, Mr. Burton will not be eligible for parole and will rightfully spend the remainder of his life behind bars for his role in the robbery that led to the murder of Doug Battle. He will now receive the same punishment as the triggerman."
Burton was scheduled to be executed Thursday night by nitrogen gas, a new execution method the state began using in 2024.
Burton’s supporters and family members had urged Ivey to consider clemency for the inmate, who is sometimes confined to a wheelchair. Multiple jurors from Burton’s 1992 trial were among those urging his life be spared. Battle’s daughter sent a letter to Ivey urging clemency, asking “how does it legally make sense” to execute Burton.
“I’m just so happy, so happy. It’s just tears of joy,” Burton’s daughter, Lois Harris, said through sobs during a telephone interview.
Alice Marie Johnson, whom President Donald Trump had tapped last year as his “pardon czar” after commuting her sentence for federal drug and money laundering charges, praised Ivey. She said the governor “showed what courageous and common sense leadership looks like.”
“By commuting the death sentence of Charles “Sonny” Burton, she ensured that justice — not technicalities — guides the most serious decision a state can make,” Johnson wrote on social media.
But Attorney General Steve Marshall slammed the move, saying, “There has never been any doubt that Sonny Burton has Douglas Battle’s blood on his hands.”
Burton organized the armed robbery and “held a gun to the store manager’s head” before dividing up the proceeds, Marshall said in a statement.
Burton received the news at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore as the state was making preparations for his execution on Thursday. In a statement issued through his attorneys, Burton thanked the governor. “Just saying thank you doesn’t seem like much. But it’s what I can give her,” Burton said.
Matt Schulz, an assistant federal defender who represented Burton said clemency powers were "created for situations exactly like these: where a disproportionately unjust result has slipped through the cracks.”
Burton told The Associated Press last month that no one was supposed to be injured in the robbery and that he didn't know until later that DeBruce had shot anyone.
“I didn’t know anything about nobody getting hurt until we were on the way back. No, nobody supposed to get hurt,” Burton said in a telephone interview from Alabama’s Holman Correctional Facility
Burton said he wants to apologize to Battle’s family. “I’m so sorry. If I had the power to bring him back, I would," Burton said.
