An execution date has been set for a man convicted in the 1998 killing of a delivery driver at an ATM in northeast Alabama.
Gov. Kay Ivey announced on Thursday that Keith Edmund Gavin, 64, will be put to death by lethal injection within a 30-hour time frame beginning at 12 a.m. on July 18 and ending at 6 a.m. on July 19.
Her announcement comes a week after the state Supreme Court authorized the execution.
ALABAMA HIGH COURT OKS DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN CONVICTED OF DELIVERY DRIVER’S 1998 KILLING
Keith Edmund Gavin, 64, will be executed on July 18 for the 1998 shooting death of William Clinton Clayton Jr. in Cherokee County, Alabama. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP)
Gavin was convicted of capital murder in the shooting death of William Clayton Jr., which took place on March 6, 1998, in the town of Centre.
Clayton, who was a delivery driver, was getting money at an ATM to take to his wife for dinner when Gavin shot him during an attempted robbery, pushed him into his van and drove off in the stolen vehicle, according to local outlet AL.com.
An investigator with the district attorney’s office happened to be nearby when the shooting took place and began pursuing the van, AL.com reported. At one point, Gavin stopped the van, got out to shoot at the investigator, then continued fleeing.
He was taken into custody shortly after and Clayton was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
ALABAMA INMATE SET FOR SECOND-EVER NITROGEN GAS EXECUTION SUES: ‘PAIN AND DISGRACE’
Keith Gavin will be put to death by lethal injection, which is Alabama’s primary execution method. (AP Photo/File)
Gavin was identified as the suspect in Clayton’s death by two eyewitnesses – the investigator he shot at and his cousin, whom he was with seconds before he shot Clayton.
In 1999, a jury voted 10-2 for Gavin to be sentenced to death. His conviction marked the second time he was sentenced to prison for murder as he served 17 years of a 34-year sentence in Illinois before being released on parole shortly before Clayton’s death, AL.com reported.
Alabama also scheduled an execution date for Jamie Mills, who was convicted in the 2004 killing of a couple during a robbery. Mills will be put to death by lethal injection on May 30, according to the Associated Press.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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