Catholics celebrate after Alabama governor commutes death sentence of man convicted in 1991 murder

Catholic leaders and advocates are celebrating after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted the imminent execution of a man convicted in a 1991 murder during a robbery.

Charles “Sonny” Burton was due to be executed by the state on March 12 over his conviction in the slaying of Doug Battle in Talladega on Aug. 16, 1991.

The killing had actually been carried out by Burton’s accomplice, Derrick DeBruce, who had also been sentenced to death in the killing but who was later resentenced to life in prison.

Alabama law allows a criminal to be found “legally accountable” of murder in some circumstances even if he did not commit the killing himself. But Ivey said it would be “unjust” to put Burton to death given that the actual murderer avoided execution.

“I cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances,” the governor said in a March 10 statement, pointing out that Burton would be put to death “while the participant who pulled the trigger was not.”

The decision was hailed by Catholic leaders. Mobile Archbishop Mark Rivituso said in a statement that he was grateful for Ivey’s decision.

“In choosing mercy, Gov. Ivey has affirmed the dignity of human life and helped foster a greater culture of life in our society,” the archbishop said, adding that the faithful still remember “the life of Mr. Doug Battle and the deep suffering his death brought to his family and loved ones.”

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, the executive director of the anti-death penalty group Catholic Mobilizing Network, thanked Ivey for “bearing witness to the injustice in Mr. Burton’s case” and “using [her] executive authority to take lifesaving action.”

“There is no place for the death penalty in that vision of a consistent ethic of life,” Vaillancourt Murphy said.

She also acknowledged “the experience of Mr. Battle’s family” as well as recent remarks from Battle’s daughter Tori, who had come out in opposition to Burton’s execution.

“Executing a man who did not commit the killing does not heal wounds or strengthen public trust. It weakens it,” Tori Battle said in a December 2025 op-ed.

Though long tolerant of capital punishment in limited cases, the Vatican in 2018 revised its teaching on the death penalty, stating that the Church “works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”

The Holy See noted that though capital punishment was “long considered an appropriate response” to some crimes, evolving standards and more effective methods of imprisonment and detention mean the death penalty is now “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”