Overview
- Burton, 75, was set to be executed on March 12 by nitrogen hypoxia for a 1991 Talladega AutoZone robbery in which customer Doug Battle was killed, though court records show Burton had left the store before the shooting.
- Ivey reduced his punishment to life without parole, halting the execution and leaving Burton to be moved off death row, with the timing of any transfer not yet announced.
- The gunman, Derrick DeBruce, originally received a death sentence that was later overturned for ineffective counsel; he was resentenced to life without parole and died in prison in 2020.
- Burton’s case rested on Alabama’s felony‑murder doctrine, and the commutation followed weeks of public appeals from multiple jurors, rallies, a petition with more than 67,000 signatures, and an op-ed by Battle’s daughter urging mercy.
- Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall criticized the decision, while Ivey noted she has presided over 25 executions and rarely grants clemency, making this just her second such action since 2017.