ATMORE − The State of Alabama executed Keith Edmund Gavin by lethal injection Thursday evening for the 1998 murder of a North Alabama delivery truck driver at a bank ATM.
Gavin, 64, was convicted of killing William C. Clayton Jr., 68. Clayton had gotten off work and drove his van to an ATM at a bank in Centre, in Cherokee County, to withdraw cash to take his wife to dinner, state and federal court records show. Cherokee County is in northeast Alabama. Gavin went up to the van and shot Clayton at least two times, then drove off in the van, records state.
Clayton and his wife had been married 38 years and the couple had seven children, USA Today reports.
Gavin’s execution went forward after he filed a pro se, handwritten motion Wednesday with the United States Supreme Court seeking a stay in the execution based on a claim that he was denied due process because he was indigent and couldn't pay a filing fee. The state argued that Gavin did have the means to pay the filing fee. The high court declined to stay his execution Thursday.
The execution happened at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, about 130 miles southwest of Montgomery.
The execution
Media witnesses and witnesses for Gavin were led into one of three observation rooms at about 6 p.m. The other observation rooms are reserved for the victim’s family and witnesses, and the third room used by state officials.
The media witness observation room was dimly lit, and about 8-feet-by-12-feet in size. The interior of the room was white-painted concrete block, and smelled strongly of disinfectant.
There is usually a clock in the death chamber, but there was not a clock visible this time. Witnesses are not allowed to bring in phones or watches. These times were taken off a correction system’s spokeswoman phone:
6:09 p.m.
The drapes to the large window in the media room were opened. Gavin was strapped cruciform on a gurney, the head of which was slightly elevated. Two IV lines ran from a small rectangular in the back wall of the death chamber. One line went to Gavin’s inner right arm and the other to his inner left arm. His inner arms were facing up.
He appeared to be wearing khaki prison garb. His body was covered from the chest down by a tightly tucked in white sheet. Straps ran across his chest and legs, and his arms were restrained by straps. He appeared to be wearing shoes, the sheet was tightly tucked in around his feet.
6:11 p.m.
Warden Terry Raybon read the death warrant and governor’s warrant. Gavin had his head raised from the time the drapes were open, and he had both his right and left index fingers elevated. His face grimaced and he worked his fingertips as if counting. His eyes opened and closed several times. Gavin was given the opportunity to make a final statement “I love my family…” he said and then his voice trailed off. Gavin was of the Muslim faith and it appeared he said several phrases in Arabic.
6:12 p.m.
His spiritual advisor, an Imam from Mobile, approached the gurney and appeared to pray. The Imam stood at the foot of the gurney.
6:16 p.m.- 6:20 p.m.
It appeared the execution began, and Gavin’s eyes closed and his head went back on the gurney. His index fingers relaxed. His breathing became shallow. His abdomen fluttered. His jaw slackened and his mouth hung agape. He appeared to stop showing physical signs of reaction or movement. At about 6:19 p.m. a corrections officer, who was standing at the head of the gurney, approached Gavin and yelled into his ear, “Inmate Gavin, you in there?” Then the officer did a consciousness check by raking his thumb across Gavin’s left eyelid and pinching his left inner arm. Gavin appeared to show no physical reaction. At 6:20 p.m. it appeared Gavin drew his last breath.
6:25 p.m.
The drapes to the observation room closed. Prison system officials said his official time of death was 6:32 p.m. Gov. Kay Ivey released a statement confirming Gavin's time of death as 6:32 p.m.
At a news conference held about 30 minutes after the execution, Department of Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm said it took “three sticks,” to get access for the two IV lines that carried the lethal cocktail into Gavin’s body.
Son remembers William Clayton
Matthew Clayton, William Clayton’s youngest son, addressed the media after the execution and thanked Ivey, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, the district attorney’s office in Cherokee County and law enforcement officers for working the case and making sure justice was done.
Matthew Clayton described his father as a “… piece of Americana.” And an “… Alabama farm boy raised with rural values who had a tremendous work ethic.”
His father, who he called “Bill,” often would go to work at 5 a.m. and return home at 8 p.m. even at the advanced age when he was killed. “He wanted to provide well for my mother and his family,” Matthew Clayton said.
His mother, Bill Clayton’s widow, is 94 and “healthy and vibrant and lives independently,” he said.
Matthew Clayton earlier said his family has "long forgiven" Clayton, saying he was "born in poverty and ... raised in a crime-infested environment." "I think that Mr. Gavin may have been indoctrinated into gang violence at an early age, as many young people are who lacked strong male role models," he said. "It's truly sad to think about this person."
In a statement issued after Gavin's execution, Ivey said she offers prayer's to Clayton's family and friends.
"After a Cherokee County courier, William Clayton, Jr., finished his day’s work, he stopped at an ATM so he could treat his wife to dinner, only to be robbed of his life by Keith Gavin," Ivey said. "After receiving a death sentence, Mr. Gavin appealed time after time for years to avoid justice, but failed at every attempt. Today, that justice was finally delivered for Mr. Clayton’s loved ones."
Final appeals
Gavin’s Thursday appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court came after a Cherokee County circuit judge denied an earlier handwritten appeal filed weeks earlier seeking a stay in the execution, court records show. Gavin sought indigent status in the Cherokee County appeal, and the judge denied that status, ruling that Gavin had enough money in his prison account to pay any necessary court fees, record show.
On Thursday, Gavin had visitors including attorney Kelly Huggins, attorney Neil Conrad, attorney Daniel Epstein and friend Lauren Gill, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections. He did not take any phone calls.
He refused a breakfast meal, and ate ice cream and drank Mountain Dew for snacks. He accepted his lunch meal and refused his final meal and made no special requests, the ADOC release stated.
His witnesses to the execution were: Conrad, Epstein, Gill and Aswan Abdul Addarr, spiritual advisor.
The state earlier granted a request from Gavin that his remains not undergo an autopsy. He made the request citing his Muslim faith.
The crime
Gavin was given the death penalty after being convicted of capital murder in Clayton's death, a driver for Corporate Express Delivery Service. Gavin went up to the van and shot Clayton, at least two times, then drove off in the van. An investigator with the district attorney’s office pulled the van over, and Gavin got out and fired shots at the investigator before running into the woods. He was captured a few hours later. Clayton died at the hospital, records show.
At the time, Gavin was on parole in Illinois after serving 17 years on a 34-year sentence for a murder conviction.
Gavin was convicted in November 1999 of capital murder in Claytons’ death, and the jury recommended the death penalty by a 10-2 vote. The trial judge took the recommendation and sentenced Gavin to death. He also sentenced Gavin to life in prison for the attempted murder charge.
Gavin's execution was the third for the year in Alabama, and a date has been set for the state's fourth execution of 2024. The execution of Alan Eugene Miller by nitrogen hypoxia has been scheduled for the 30-hour period from midnight Sept. 26 to 6 a.m. Sept. 27.
Marshall also has requested that the Alabama Supreme Court authorize the execution of Carey Dale Grayson by nitrogen hypoxia. The state’s high court has not authorized the execution. If authorization is handed down, Ivey will set the execution date.
Jonathan Limehouse and USA Today contributed to this report. Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
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