MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a 75-year-old inmate who was set to be executed this week, even though he was not in the building when the victim was killed.
Ivey reduced Charles “Sonny” Burton’s sentence to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Burton was sentenced to death for the shooting death of Doug Battle during a 1991 robbery.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a 75-year-old inmate who was set to be executed this week, even though he was not in the building when the victim was killed. AP
Ivey reduced Charles “Sonny” Burton’s sentence to life in prison without possibility of parole. Alabama Department of Corrections
Burton was sentenced to death for the shooting death of Doug Battle during a 1991 robbery. Federal Defenders Office
People gather outside the Alabama Governor’s Mansion in Montgomery, Ala., on Feb. 16, 2026, to urge Gov. Kay Ivey to grant clemency to Sonny Burton. APHowever, another man shot Battle when Burton had left the building.
The shooter’s death sentence was later reduced on appeal to life imprisonment.
“I cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances. I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not,” the Republican governor said in a statement.
