Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted the death sentence of 75-year-old Charles “Sonny” Burton to life without the possibility of parole March 10. He was scheduled to die two days later by nitrogen gas.
Burton has spent three decades on Death Row for a 1991 robbery and homicide in which the actual shooter was sentenced to life without parole after having his death sentence overturned. Burton, who left the robbery scene before the murder occurred, was condemned for being an accomplice to the crime.
Kay Ivey
“I 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 reported by Associated Press.
Burton’s legal team issued a statement expressing gratitude to Ivey and to the investigators and anti-death penalty advocates who pressed the governor to spare the inmate’s life.
“This decision ensures that the ultimate and irreversible punishment will not be carried out. The governor’s action reflects careful consideration and affirms the principle that justice must always leave room for caution, humanity and mercy. … Today is a reminder that mercy remains an essential part of justice.”
Laura Porter, executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty, said the commutation testifies to the tragedy that is capital punishment.
Laura Porter
“The death penalty process is deeply flawed when someone who was not present for the killing faces execution, while the person who committed the murder does not. It is uplifting to see that more and more governors across the ideological spectrum are recognizing problems with death penalty cases,” Porter said.
Granting clemency in Burton’s case was the conservative thing to do and should be emulated by more governors, said Demetrius Minor, executive director of Conservatives Concerned.
“This brings tremendous relief to his family and so many across the country. Conservatives know that government power can be abused and should not be used to execute someone who was not in the building when the murder was committed. Gov. Ivey acted on these conservative principles,” he said.
According to the AP account, Burton participated in the robbery of an AutoZone in Talladega but left the auto parts store before a customer was shot in the back by one of the robbers.
Burton’s daughter, Lois Harris, sobbed during a telephone interview about his commutation. “I’m just so happy, so happy. It’s just tears of joy.”
Steve Marshall
But Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Burton deserved to die for being a career criminal with the victim’s “blood on his hands.”
“While the media has done its best to paint Mr. Burton as a harmless, decrepit old man, he is a murderer. He organized an armed robbery, held a gun to the store manager’s head, and callously doled out the proceeds of the robbery once Douglas Battle, an army veteran, was dead,” he said.
“Burton does not deserve special treatment because he is old — he could have been executed a long time ago, but like many Death Row inmates, he chose to drag out his case through endless frivolous appeals. I firmly believe that he should have faced the punishment imposed by a jury of his peers and upheld by numerous judges,” Marshall added.
This wasn’t the first time Ivey disappointed Marshall, who said he was “astonished” when she commuted the death sentence of Robin “Rocky” Myers to life in prison in 2025. The governor said there were too many questions about Myers’ guilt to proceed with his execution.
Related articles:
Alabama is about to execute a man who did not kill anyone | Opinion by Rodney Kennedy
Coalition forms to end capital punishment state by state
Tennessee governor urged to commute death sentence of intellectually disabled man