US EditionAlabama Man Faces Execution Despite Not Pulling Trigger in 1991 Killing; Victim's Daughter Urges Clemency
Charles Burton, convicted under Alabama's felony-murder law though not the shooter, faces execution while other accomplices serve lesser sentences, rights groups say.
- Charles Burton, 75, faces execution after the Alabama Supreme Court authorized Governor Kay Ivey on January 22, 2026, despite Derrick DeBruce firing the fatal shot.
- Burton was convicted after prosecutors argued he led the robbery and cited his statement to `take care of it` under Alabama’s felony‑murder statute.
- LaJuan McCants testified that Burton, 75, who uses a wheelchair and has health issues, asked DeBruce in the getaway car why he shot Battle, supporting claims he did not fire the fatal shot.
- The victim’s daughter and six of eight jurors urge clemency, but Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office opposes, highlighting the case’s legal and fairness disputes.
- Legal scholars note U.S. Supreme Court precedent allows execution of accomplices, and the Death Penalty Information Center has documented at least 22 such cases, while the shooter was resentenced to life, leaving Burton as the only one facing execution among six.
20 Articles
20 Articles
Alabama man faces execution despite not pulling trigger in 1991 killing; victim's daughter urges clemency
Charles "Sonny" Burton faces execution in Alabama for his role in a 1991 robbery in which a man was fatally shot, even though Burton did not fire the gun or witness the killing.
Associated Press News
Alabama man faces execution despite not pulling the trigger in auto store customer's death
Charles “Sonny” Burton faces execution in Alabama for his role in a 1991 robbery in which a man was fatally shot, even though Burton did not fire the gun or witness the killing.
Victim’s Daughter and Former Juror Oppose Execution of Alabama Man Who Officials Acknowledges Did Not Pull the Trigger
Two women intimately connected to a 1991 murder case in Alabama have publicly opposed the intended execution of Charles “Sonny” Burton, a man both the state and his attorneys acknowledge did not fire the fatal shot. Priscilla Townsend, who served on the jury that sentenced Mr. Burton to death, and Tori Battle, whose father Doug Battle was killed during the robbery in question, have each written op-eds urging Governor Kay Ivey t…
Charles "Sonny" Burton killed no one. Alabama plans to suffocate him anyway.
Sonny Burton’s family hopes Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey will spare his life. Photo by Lee HedgepethSonny Burton can no longer walk. His loved ones worry that, should the time come, prison staffers will have to roll the 75-year-old into Alabama’s execution chamber on a gurney. One final indignity, they say, for a man the state admits never killed a soul. And sometimes Eddie Mae Ellison worries that her older brother, Charles “Sonny” Burton, is already …
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