Alabama inmate to be executed for 1998 murder of delivery driver

July 18 (UPI) -- Convicted murderer Keith Edmund Gavin is set to die by lethal injection Thursday night, marking the third execution Alabama has carried out this year.

Gavin, 64, was convicted on two counts of capital murder for fatally shooting William Clayton Jr. in 1998. The charges were elevated to capital murder because the shooting happened in the course of a first-degree robbery and Gavin was out on parole for a previous murder sentence.

Clayton was finishing his job as a contract delivery driver and was getting money at an ATM to take his wife out for the evening when Gavin approached him, authorities said.

Several witnesses testified that Gavin opened the door of Clayton's van and shot him twice before pushing him into the passenger's seat and driving away.

A jury voted 10-2 to recommend Gavin for execution, and a trial court accepted the jury's decision.

His execution is set for as early 6 p.m. EDT at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. The time frame could extend into the early hours of Friday morning if a court battle ensues.

Gavin filed a motion on July 12 to stay his execution, but the motion was denied Tuesday. He then filed a handwritten appeal to the Supreme Court on Wednesday challenging the state's dismissal.

The state did oblige Gavin's request to not have an autopsy. He argued in a lawsuit that it would conflict with his Muslim faith, which requires his body to be kept intact after his death.

Gov. Kay Ivey in April set Gavin's execution date to happen between midnight on July 17 and 6 a.m. July 19. The extended time frame was because Alabama has botched some lethal injections in the past.

Problems have arisen because administrators struggled to find veins, intravenous lines clogged with the deadly chemicals, and drugs cause inmates to have violent reactions. There also has been a shortage of the drugs used in lethal injections.

Alabama recently authorized the use of nitrogen gas in executions and, so far, has been the only state to use the new method.

Kenneth Eugene Smith became the first inmate to be executed by nitrogen asphyxiation in January, despite the United Nations Human Rights Commission saying the method was untested and could subject inmates to "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or even torture."

Jamie Ray Mills was Alabama's second execution when he died by lethal injection in May. The state is set to execute Alan Eugene Miller by nitrogen gas in September.