Governor Kay Ivey commutes death sentence of Charles Burton

Charles Burton/Courtesy: Alabama Department of Corrections

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey is commuting the death sentence of Charles L. Burton.

Governor Ivey announced Tuesday that Burton will now serve life in prison with no chance of parole.

Burton was scheduled to be executed on Thursday for a fatal shooting during a 1991 robbery.

Burton was convicted as an accomplice in the shooting death of Doug Battle, a customer who was killed during an Aug. 16 robbery that year of an auto parts store in Talladega.

Burton did not shoot Battle and was not in the AutoZone store at the time of the fatal shooting. However, prosecutors depicted him as the ringleader of the robbery and sought a death sentence for him.

Derrick DeBruce, the man who fired the gun also was sentenced to death but later had his sentence reduced to life imprisonment and died in prison.

Governor Ivey released the following statement regarding the commute:

“I firmly believe that the death penalty is just punishment for society’s most heinous offenders, as shown by the 25 executions I have presided over as governor. In order to ensure the continued viability of the death penalty, however, I also believe that a government’s most consequential action must be administered fairly and proportionately. Doug 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. 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. To be clear, Mr. Burton will not be eligible for parole and will rightfully spend the remainder of his life behind bars for his role in the robbery that led to the murder of Doug Battle. He will now receive the same punishment as the triggerman.”

As required by law, the governor first reached out to a representative of Mr. Battle’s family. She also notified the attorney general.

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