Death Row Killer’s Last Meal: Alabama Man Snacked On Ice Cream and Mountain Dew Before Execution For Killing Father of 7

Alabama death row inmate, Keith Edmund Gavin who was handed the death sentence in 1998, opted for a simple snack of ice cream and a Mountain Dew as his last meal .

Knewz.com has learned that the crime for which Gavin was executed on Thursday, July 18, was the murder of William Clayton Jr. a father of seven.

Notably, the doomed 65-year-old man refused breakfast, lunch, and dinner the day before his death, choosing only to snack on Ruffles cheddar sour cream potato chips, Lay’s plain potato chips, and a Hershey Bar with almonds.

After being wheeled into the death chamber, his last words were: “I love my family” followed by a few utterances in Arabic as a testimony to his Islamic faith.

A reporter present during the execution noted that the process began at 6:16 PM and Gavin – killed via means of lethal injection – seemed to have drawn his last breath four minutes later.

There were no apparent complications during the State of Alabama ’s third execution for 2024.

“He appeared to show no physical reaction during the process,” the reporter noted.

Gavin maintained that he was innocent from the time of his trial claiming that his cousin, Dewayne Meeks, who drove with him on the night of Clayton’s death, was the one who pulled the trigger.

According to Meeks, however, Gavin had climbed out of the car they were both driving in on the evening of March 6, 1998, and fired two shots into Clayton’s vehicle.

Meeks's account further noted that he then sped off from the scene out of fear while Gavin climbed into the car of the dying man and drove it.

What fortified the case against Gavin was the fact that two witnesses had seen him committing the crime.

The police then pursued Gavin who led them to a wooded area. There they found Clayton “barely alive” along with the murder weapon, a 40-caliber Glock pistol.

He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Meeks, sought after by police , remained at large for two weeks after the crime before he was apprehended in Chicago and charged with Clayton’s murder.

The charges were later dropped and Meeks turned state’s witness. Gavin’s conviction has since been credited to Meeks's cooperation with the Alabama authorities.

The Clayton killing was not Gavin’s first. According to a report by USA Today , he had been convicted of a previous charge in 1982.

Gavin was noted to have repeatedly filed for a stay of execution—the last of which was brought forward on July 10, 2024.

In the legal document he, along with his attorneys, claimed that he was denied due process because he was unable to pay a filing fee.

The Supreme Court found evidence indicating otherwise. It noted that there was enough money in Gavin's prison account and denied his appeal.