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Muslim death row inmate's final words as he's executed by lethal injection after making unusual request
The final words of an Alabama inmate executed over the 1998 murder of a father-of-seven have been revealed after unusually requested not to undergo an autopsy.
Keith Edmund Gavin, 64, was pronounced dead at 6.32pm Thursday following a lethal injection - the Southern state's primary execution method - at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility, authorities said.
Gavin, the third inmate executed in the state this year and the 10th in the country, said: 'I love my family,' just before the sedative was injected.
The Muslim inmate followed with a few words that were not audible as he appeared to pray with his spiritual advisor beside him.
He had a finger lifted on both hands in what appeared to be the Islamic gesture meaning Allah is the only God.
Keith Edmund Gavin, 64, was executed on Thursday at 6.32pm following a lethal injection. He was convicted of capital murder for the March 6, 1998 shooting death of delivery driver William Clinton Clayton Jr., 68
William Clinton Clayton Jr., who went by Bill, was fatally shot by Gavin while he withdrew money from an ATM in downtown Centre. He just finished work and was getting money to take his wife out to dinner
The death row inmate was convicted of capital murder for the March 6, 1998 shooting death of delivery driver William Clinton Clayton Jr., 68, when he stopped to withdraw money from an ATM in downtown Centre.
Clayton, who went by Bill, had just finished work and was getting money to take his wife out to dinner, according to a trial testimony.
After receiving a death sentence, Gavin spent years appealing many times to avoid the punishment, but was never successful.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said: 'Today, that justice was finally delivered for Mr. Clayton´s loved ones. I offer my prayers for Mr. Clayton´s family and friends who still mourn his loss all these years later.'
At about 6.19pm a corrections officer performed a consciousness check - saying his name, brushing his eyelids and pinching his arms- which is done before the final two drugs are administered. Soon afterward, his breathing faded.
Prior to his execution, Gavin asked the state not to autopsy his body due to his devout Muslim faith.
While it is standard practice in the state of Alabama to perform an autopsy after execution, Gavin asked through his attorney to prohibit the act following his death for religious reasons.
Prior to his execution, Gavin asked the state not to autopsy his body due to his devout Muslim faith. On Friday, the Alabama prison system agreed to forgo an autopsy on him. (pictured: William C. Holman Correctional Facility)
On Friday, the Alabama prison system agreed to forgo an autopsy on him.
'Mr. Gavin is a devout Muslim. His religion teaches that the human body is a sacred temple, which must be kept whole,' his attorney's previously wrote.
'As a result, Mr. Gavin sincerely believes that an autopsy would desecrate his body and violate the sanctity of keeping his human body intact.
'Based on his faith, Mr. Gavin is fiercely opposed to an autopsy being performed on his body after his execution.'
The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is typically reserved for especially heinous crimes in which a victim is killed, but each state can determine what specific circumstances make a murder eligible for a death sentence.
During the attempted robbery more than two decades ago, Gavin was on parole in Illinois after serving 17 years of a 34-year sentence for murder, according to court records.
Prosecutors said he shot Clayton, pushed him into the passenger seat of the van he was driving and drove off in the vehicle.
An officer testified that he began pursuing the van and the driver - a man he later identified as Gavin - who shot at him before running away into the woods.
A jury convicted Gavin of capital murder and voted 10-2 to recommend a death sentence, which a judge imposed. Most states now require a jury to be in unanimous agreement to impose a death sentence.
Gavin, the third inmate executed in the state this year and the 10th in the country, said: 'I love my family,' just before the sedative was injected. (pictured: File photo of Alabama's lethal injection chamber)
In 2020, a federal judge ruled that Gavin had ineffective counsel at his sentencing hearing because his original lawyers failed to present more mitigating evidence of Gavin's violent and abusive childhood in Chicago.
The inmate grew up in a 'gang-infested housing project in Chicago' where he lived 'in overcrowded houses that were in poor condition,' U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre said.
Bowdre added that Gavin 'was surrounded by drug activity, crime, violence, and riots.'
A federal appeals court then overturned the decision which allowed the death sentence to stand.
'There is no doubt about Gavin´s guilt for this heinous offense,' Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Thursday.
Clayton, a Korean War veteran, was a father-of-seven who continued to work even after retiring from a railroad company, according to his obituary published by The Birmingham News.
As of January 2024, there are 24 states that have the death penalty and 23 that do not - while a further three have a moratorium on it
His son, Matthew Clayton, 54, who witnessed the execution, said that his late father was a 'slice of Americana' who would sometimes work two jobs to support his family.
'He was a good man. He left behind children and a wife who miss him, an extended family that mourns his loss.
'It's quite unfortunate that his final years were taken from him in such a brutal way,' Matthew said, adding that his father 'did not deserve to die this way.'
Matthew told USA Today that he remembers his father as a 'quite large man' that was also 'a bit of a gentle giant.'
He said his mother, who is now 94 years old, lives independently and is 'very healthy and very vibrant.'
'It's truly been a blessing to have her around for so much of my life, particularly since my father was gone at a younger age,' Matthew said.