Execution of a Man in the United States

American authorities in Alabama executed a man on Thursday evening who was convicted of shooting a delivery driver, leading to his death during a robbery attempt in 1998, by lethal injection. Keith Edmund Gavin, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:32 PM local time. Gavin was convicted of murder punishable by death in the shooting of delivery driver William Clayton Jr., 68, in Cherokee County on March 6, 1998. Clayton was withdrawing cash from an ATM after finishing work to take his wife out to dinner, according to a summary from the court of trial testimony. In his comments on the execution, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey stated: "After the death sentence was issued, Mr. Gavin repeatedly appealed for years to avoid justice, but failed in every attempt... Today, justice has finally been served for the loved ones of Mr. Clayton." He added: "I offer my prayers to Mr. Clayton's family and friends who have mourned his loss throughout all these subsequent years." The execution was carried out shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Gavin's request for a stay of execution, which he submitted in a handwritten document.