Overview
- Burton, 75, is set to be executed Thursday for a 1991 Talladega AutoZone robbery under Alabama’s felony‑murder rule despite not firing the fatal shot.
- He left the store before Derrick DeBruce shot customer Doug Battle, yet a 1992 conviction and death sentence have kept Burton on death row.
- DeBruce’s death sentence was overturned and he was resentenced to life without parole in 2002, and he died in custody in 2020.
- Alabama intends to use nitrogen hypoxia for the execution, a method that has drawn legal and ethical scrutiny.
- Former jurors and Battle’s daughter, Tori Battle, have urged Gov. Kay Ivey to commute the sentence as Attorney General Steve Marshall calls the execution “long overdue,” with advocates noting Burton’s frail health.