Kay Ivey, the Governor of Alabama, announced on Thursday that Alabama has set an execution date of July 18 for Keith Edmund Gavin, a man convicted in the 1998 fatal shooting of William Clinton Clayton, Jr., a delivery driver who had stopped at an ATM in Cherokee County.
Gavin, 64, will face execution by lethal injection, the state’s primary execution method. The announcement follows the Alabama Supreme Court’s execution authorization last week.
In 1998, Clayton, a delivery driver, was shot and killed when he stopped at an ATM to withdraw money for a dinner date with his wife.
The jury found Gavin guilty of capital murder, voting 10-2 in favor of the death penalty. The trial court accepted the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Gavin to death.
Gavin’s attorney had requested the court not to authorize the execution, claiming that the state was moving Gavin ahead of other inmates who had exhausted their appeals.
However, the court proceeded with setting the execution date.
In addition to Gavin’s execution, the state has also scheduled Jamie Mills’ lethal injection execution for May 30. The 2004 slaying of a couple during a robbery led to Mills’ conviction.
Earlier this year, in January, Alabama carried out the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas. However, lethal injection remains the state’s primary method of execution.
The upcoming executions highlight the ongoing debate surrounding capital punishment in the United States, with advocates arguing for its necessity in delivering justice while opponents question its morality and effectiveness as a deterrent to crime.
Credit: ABCNews
