Death row inmate who ‘didn’t kill anyone’ spared execution last minute

The 75-year-old Charles “Sonny” Burton was sentenced to death for the murder of a man during a store robbery in 1991.

But it was a crime he didn’t commit, as he wasn’t in the building at the time it happened.

He and five other men did rob the store that day, however, Burton had left the building when one of the other robbers shot a customer.

In Alabama, like many other US states, the execution of a co-felon is allowed, even if they didn’t pull the trigger themselves.

Among those who pleaded for a reprieve for Burton was the daughter of the victim. She was just nine years old when her dad was killed.

Tori Battle, whose dad Doug Battle was killed in the robbery, said that “no one from the State has ever sat with me to explain why Alabama believes it must execute a man who did not kill my father”.

“My love for my father does not require another death, especially one that defies reason”.

On 16 August 1991, Burton, Derrick DeBruce and four other men decided to rob an AutoZone in Talladega, Alabama, according to court testimony.

As the robbery was coming to an end, Doug Battle, a customer, entered the auto parts store.

Reportedly, Battle got into an argument with DeBruco, who then shot him in the back.

A fact that prosecutors did not dispute was that Burton had already left the store when the shooting happened.

The gunman, DeBruce, died in prison while serving a sentence of life without parole, as he was initially sentenced to the death penalty, but it was reduced because his trial lawyers provided inadequate counsel.

Burton was scheduled to be executed on Thursday night by nitrogen gas, but he will now serve a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, after the commutation of his death sentence by Republican governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey.

Ivey, who has presided over 25 executions as governor, said she firmly believed in the death penalty, but added that it also must be administered fairly and proportionately.