Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama has set an execution date for Keith Edmund Gavin, a 64-year-old man convicted in the 1998 killing of a delivery driver at an ATM in northeast Alabama. Gavin will be put to death by lethal injection within a 30-hour time frame beginning at 12 a.m. on July 18, ending at 6 a.m. on July 19. This decision follows the authorization of the execution by the state Supreme Court. Gavin was found guilty of capital murder in the shooting death of William Clayton Jr. on March 6, 1998, in Centre, Alabama. Clayton, a delivery driver, was shot during an attempted robbery while getting money at an ATM to take to his wife.
A district attorney investigator who happened to be nearby witnessed the shooting and began pursuing Gavin, who pushed Clayton into his van and drove off in the stolen vehicle. Gavin stopped the van at one point to shoot at the investigator before fleeing. He was quickly taken into custody, while Clayton was pronounced dead at a hospital. Gavin was identified as the suspect in Clayton’s death by two eyewitnesses – the investigator he shot at and his cousin, who was with him shortly before the shooting. Gavin had previously served 17 years of a 34-year sentence in Illinois for a murder conviction before being released on parole shortly before Clayton’s death.
In 1999, a jury voted 10-2 in favor of sentencing Gavin to death for his crimes. This marked the second time Gavin had been sentenced to prison for murder. In addition to Gavin, Alabama has also scheduled an execution date for Jamie Mills, who was convicted in the 2004 killing of a couple during a robbery. Mills will be put to death by lethal injection on May 30. The decision to carry out these executions highlights the state’s stance on the death penalty and its commitment to enforcing justice for victims of violent crimes. The Associated Press contributed to this report, providing additional details on the cases of Gavin and Mills.
