{"id":203676,"date":"2026-03-11T03:03:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T03:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/alabama-governor-commutes-death-sentence-of-man-who-didnt-kill-anyone-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T03:03:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T03:03:37","slug":"alabama-governor-commutes-death-sentence-of-man-who-didnt-kill-anyone-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/alabama-governor-commutes-death-sentence-of-man-who-didnt-kill-anyone-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Alabama governor commutes death sentence of man who didn't kill anyone – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

BREAKING: Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo scores 83 points, surpassing Kobe Bryant for the second-most in an NBA game<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted on Tuesday the death sentence of Charles \u201cSonny\u201d Burton to life without parole, saying his execution, which was set for Thursday, would be “unjust.”
In 1991, Burton was one of six men involved in the robbery of an AutoZone store in Talladega that ended with the murder of a customer<\/a>, Doug Battle; Burton did not pull the trigger in the killing.
\u201cDoug Battle was brutally murdered by Derrick DeBruce while shopping in an auto parts store. But DeBruce was ultimately sentenced to life without parole. Charles Burton did not shoot the victim, did not direct the triggerman to shoot the victim and had already left the store by the time the shooting occurred. Yet Mr. Burton was set to be executed while DeBruce was allowed to live out his life in prison,\u201d Ivey said in a statement.
\u201cI 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,\u201d she said.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall expressed disappointment in a statement first to NBC News.
\u201cThere has never been any doubt that Sonny Burton has Douglas Battle\u2019s blood on his hands,\u201d he said.
\u201cBurton does not deserve special treatment because he is old \u2014 he could have been executed a long time ago, but like many death-row inmates, he chose to drag out his case through endless frivolous appeals. I firmly believe that he should have faced the punishment imposed by a jury of his peers and upheld by numerous judges,\u201d he said.
Burton admits to entering the store armed with a gun. He said he stole cash from a safe in the back room, then fled outside to wait by a getaway car.
Inside the store, one of his accomplices, Derrick DeBruce, shot Battle, 34, in the back, killing him. The state acknowledged this fact in its response to Burton\u2019s application for a stay of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Burton\u2019s death sentence was possible because of a legal doctrine known as felony murder, which allows prosecutors to treat anyone involved in certain felonies, such as robbery or burglary, equally responsible for a killing that occurs during the crime, even if they did not commit the act themselves.
In a phone interview earlier this month from William C. Holman Correctional Facility, the site of the state\u2019s execution chamber, Burton told NBC News he had no idea Battle\u2019s murder was going to happen.
\u201cI didn\u2019t assist nobody. I didn\u2019t aid nobody. I didn\u2019t tell nobody to shoot nobody,\u201d he said.
Ivey had faced a growing chorus of voices asking for mercy for Burton, 75, including the victim\u2019s daughter, who published an op-ed<\/a> in the Montgomery Advertiser urging Ivey to spare his life.
Burton expressed gratitude to NBC News for that show of support.
\u201cShe forgave me, and I want to say how much I appreciated that,\u201d he said. \u201cShe lifts a whole lot of guilt off me.\u201d
Burton\u2019s family and legal team expressed their gratitude in a statement from federal defender Matt Schulz, who represented Burton for nearly two decades.
\u201cGovernor Ivey\u2019s decision is to be applauded, as it demonstrates measured, responsible, and respectable leadership. Though a \u2018thank you\u2019 indeed falls short of the level of gratitude the parties wish to express, Sonny Burton, his family, his friends, his legal team, and all those who have supported Sonny\u2019s request for clemency thank you, Governor Ivey,\u201d said Schulz.
Schulz also shared a statement from Burton to Ivey.
\u201cJust saying thank you doesn\u2019t seem like much. But it\u2019s what I can give her. And I do thank her. Thank you, Governor,\u201d said Burton.
Burton would have been the ninth person to be executed by nitrogen gas \u2014 a method first carried out in Alabama in 2024.<\/a> He is only the second person to have his death sentence commuted<\/a> by Ivey.
Abigail Brooks is a producer for NBC News.
Dan Slepian is an award-winning investigative producer and a veteran of “Dateline: NBC.”\u00a0
Jackie Montalvo is a producer-editor for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BREAKING: Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo scores 83 points, surpassing Kobe Bryant for the second-most in an NBA game news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeAlabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted on Tuesday the death sentence of Charles \u201cSonny\u201d Burton to life without parole, saying his execution, which was set for Thursday, would be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":203677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-203676","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}