Keith Edmund Gavin, 64, was executed by chemical injection at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama. Gavin was convicted of fatally shooting courier service driver William Clayton Jr. during a robbery attempt in Cherokee County on March 6, 1998. Clayton, a Korean War veteran and father of seven, was killed as he was getting money at an ATM to take his wife to dinner.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey expressed that justice was finally delivered for Mr. Clayton's loved ones after years of appeals by Gavin to avoid his death sentence. The execution proceeded after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Gavin's request for a stay of execution.
Gavin, who is Muslim, offered a final statement expressing love for his family before the sedative took effect. Prosecutors stated that Gavin shot Clayton during the robbery, fled in the victim's van, and engaged in a shootout with law enforcement before escaping into the woods.
Gavin, who had a prior murder conviction in Illinois, was on parole at the time of Clayton's killing. Despite claims of an abusive childhood, a federal appeals court upheld Gavin's death sentence, emphasizing his guilt in the crime.
The execution marked the 10th in the U.S. this year and the third in Alabama. The Death Penalty Information Center reported executions in Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Missouri as well. The Supreme Court recently intervened to halt an execution in Texas shortly before it was scheduled to occur.
