According to a news release from Burton’s attorneys and advocates, Burton — who has been on death row since 1992 — faces execution despite what the State of Alabama has long acknowledged: he did not kill anyone.
In 1991, Burton and 5 other men robbed an auto parts store in Talladega, Alabama. After Burton left the building, his co-defendant, Derrick DeBruce, shot and killed customer Doug Battle.
While DeBruce was identified as the shooter, prosecutors sought the death penalty for both men. Burton was convicted under Alabama’s felony murder doctrine, though he neither pulled the trigger nor was inside the store at the time of the shooting, according to the release.
Both Burton and DeBruce were initially sentenced to death. However, in 2015, the state agreed to resentence DeBruce to life without parole — an outcome the state has publicly described as “arguably unjust.”
Burton, meanwhile, remains on death row.
Advocates argue that the disparity underscores the unfairness of Burton’s pending execution.
Of the 6 co-defendants in the case, only Burton and DeBruce faced capital charges. The remaining 4 received lesser sentences through plea agreements or in exchange for testimony.
Today, Burton is described as a frail, wheelchair-bound grandfather suffering from multiple medical conditions, including arthritis and a delusional disorder. He reportedly wears a helmet because of repeated head injuries sustained from falls inside Holman Correctional Facility.
Retired Sgt. William James, who worked on death row for 20 years and witnessed 37 executions, described Burton as “a frail, 75-year-old man, who should be granted clemency and allowed to live out the remainder of his life at Holman.”
Governors of other States, including Texas Governors Abbott and Perry, and most recently Oklahoma Governor Stitt, have commuted sentences in similar situations where the lesser culpable offenders were facing death while the more culpable were spared.
James added, “My heart goes out to the officers who must participate or even be present for Mr. Burton’s execution.”
Support for clemency also comes from within the original jury. 6 of the 8 living jurors who sentenced Burton to death have reportedly stated they would not oppose a sentence of life without parole.
Three have written directly to Ivey asking her to commute his sentence.
Juror Charles Johnson said he has gained perspective since the trial, noting, “If Charles Manson can get a life sentence for leading his group to kill many people, it is fair for Mr. Burton to serve life without parole in prison.”
The victim’s daughter, Tori Battle, has also publicly opposed Burton’s execution, writing in an op-ed that supporting it would contradict the values her father instilled in her.
Civil rights advocates have echoed those concerns. Laurel Hattix, senior attorney at the ACLU of Alabama, questioned the broader implications of the case: “What does it say about our criminal legal system that the State of Alabama is set to kill a man who never killed anyone himself?”
Hattix also criticized the planned use of nitrogen hypoxia, stating, “To suffocate an elderly man to death, against the wishes of multiple jurors and the victim’s daughter, is not justice. It is only proof of Alabama’s arbitrary, discriminatory, error-ridden capital punishment system.”
Burton’s attorney, Matt Schulz, pointed to similar cases in other states where governors have intervened.
“Governors of other States, including Texas Governors Abbott and Perry, and most recently Oklahoma Governor Stitt, have commuted sentences in similar situations where the lesser culpable offenders were facing death while the more culpable were spared,” Schulz said.
“We hope Governor Ivey will recognize that such an execution would undermine, rather than bolster, public confidence in Alabama’s system of justice.”
Conservative anti-death penalty advocate Demetrius Minor, executive director of Conservatives Concerned, described the case as deeply troubling.
“This case shows why it warrants us to be alarmed about the use of capital punishment,” Minor said. “The high probability of an innocent person being executed should outrage all of us.”
Religious leaders have also weighed in.
Burton’s spiritual adviser, Imam Aswan Abdul-Addarr of Masjid Baitul Haqq in Mobile, emphasized the moral dimension of clemency.
“When irreversible harm is at stake, mercy is not weakness; it is moral strength,” he said.
While Islam does not oppose capital punishment, Abdul-Addarr said that this case does not warrant it, particularly given that the victim’s daughter has forgiven Burton.
The case carries an additional layer of tragedy.
In 1988, Burton’s wife, Carolyn Annie Burton, was murdered by Larry Green, who stabbed her and a friend to death. Green received a life sentence and was paroled after 35 years.
According to the release, Burton — guided by his faith — did not oppose Green’s release when asked by the Alabama Department of Corrections.
Burton’s daughter, Carolyn Amanda Shavers, who discovered her mother’s body in 1988, expressed disbelief that her father faces execution despite not having killed anyone.
“That took everything out of my body. It took my life away from me,” she said of her mother’s death.
Now, she waits as the state prepares to execute her father.
Burton’s fate ultimately rests with Ivey, who has the authority to commute his sentence to life without parole.
Advocates argue that granting clemency would correct what they describe as an illogical and unjust outcome — particularly given the resentencing of the shooter and the broad coalition now calling for mercy.
Burton is scheduled to be executed March 12.
Source: Davis Vanguard, Staff, February 28, 2026
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde
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