Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has commuted the death sentence of 75-year-old inmate Charles “Sonny” Burton, converting his punishment to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Burton had been scheduled to be executed later this week.
According to NBC News, the decision halted an execution that had drawn national attention because Burton did not personally kill the victim whose death led to his conviction.
Burton had been set to die by nitrogen hypoxia on Thursday for his role in a 1991 robbery at an AutoZone store in Talladega, Alabama. During the robbery, a customer named Doug Battle was shot and killed by another participant, Derrick DeBruce. Court records show Burton entered the store armed, removed cash from a safe, and left the building before the fatal shooting occurred.
In explaining the commutation, Ivey said the circumstances surrounding the case made the death penalty inappropriate.
“Doug Battle was brutally murdered by Derrick DeBruce while shopping in an auto parts store,” Ivey said in a statement. “But DeBruce was ultimately sentenced to life without parole. Charles Burton did not shoot the victim and had already left the store by the time the shooting occurred.”
The case centered on Alabama’s felony-murder doctrine, which allows prosecutors to hold participants in certain felonies responsible for deaths that occur during the crime—even if they did not personally carry out the killing.
Burton’s death sentence remained in place for decades, even after the shooter later received life without parole following a successful federal appeal. DeBruce eventually died in prison in 2020.
Burton has long maintained that he never expected anyone to be killed during the robbery. Speaking earlier this month from the William C. Holman Correctional Facility—where Alabama houses its execution chamber—he said, “I didn’t assist nobody. I didn’t aid nobody. I didn’t tell nobody to shoot nobody.”
Following the commutation, Burton’s legal team thanked Gov. Ivey for the decision. His longtime attorney, Matt Schulz, described the move as “measured, responsible, and respectable leadership.”
