Charles ‘Sonny’ Burton calls clemency ‘gift from God’ on day he was going to die

An Alabama man who was outside a building when a man was killed in an armed robbery is looking at life as “a gift from God” after he was granted clemency by the state’s governor just days before he was scheduled to be executed.

Charles “Sonny” Burton, 75, was sentenced to death for his role in the 1991 robbery of a Talladega AutoZone store that left a man dead.

Burton was tried and convicted as an accessory after the fact as Derrick DeBruce left the store before shooting customer Doug Battle to death; prosecutors insisted Burton acted as the group’s leader in the armed robbery.

A jury in Alabama found DeBruce and Burton guilty of capital murder, and DeBruce’s death penalty sentence was eventually overturned on appeal.

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While DeBruce was sentenced to life in prison and later died behind bars, Burton’s death sentence was upheld two days before he was scheduled to be executed by nitrogen gas.

“I feel like a newborn baby, you know?” Burton told Fox News Digital on Thursday, the day he was scheduled to die. “I escaped death and I feel fine.”

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted Burton’s death sentence earlier this week, instead ruling that the wheelchair-using grandfather would spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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Charles “Sonny” Burton smiles for a photo. (Federal Defense Office)

The move marked the second time Ivey has chosen to grant clemency to an inmate on death row since her election in 2017.

“My release from death row is entirely God’s work,” Burton said in a phone interview from behind bars. “I asked him to tone down the governor and let the governor do the right thing. He did just as I asked.”

Ivey, a Republican who has presided over more than 25 executions, said he believes the death penalty is “just punishment for society’s most heinous criminals” but that he “could not in good conscience proceed with the execution of Mr. Burton under such different circumstances.”

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Charles “Sonny” Burton poses with family members in an undated photo. (Federal Defense Office)

“I believe it would be unjust to execute one of the participants in this crime while the party who pulled the trigger was not executed,” Ivey said in a statement. he said. “To be clear, Mr. Burton will not be eligible for parole and will rightfully spend the rest of his life behind bars for his role in the robbery that led to the murder of Doug Battle. He will now receive the same sentence as the shooter.”

The move came after Burton’s supporters urged Ivey to spare him, and some jurors at his 1992 trial said they believed mercy was warranted.

Battle’s daughter had also previously sent a letter to Ivey, asking for Burton’s mercy in a surprising act of forgiveness.

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Charles “Sonny” Burton punches attorney Matt Schulz in an undated photo. (Federal Defense Office)

“Many of the jurors were willing to sign affidavits or write letters to the governor,” assistant federal defender Matt Schulz, who represented Burton, told Fox News Digital. “Three of them specifically asked the governor to commute the sentence, stating that they would never have voted for death in the first place if they had known that the attacker would not face the same fate.”

Schulz described the emotional moment he was able to deliver the news to Burton in person.

“I passed all security measures” [at the prison]. “I still had my shoes and belt in my hand when I went in to tell him,” Schulz said. “All I could say to him was, ‘Sonny, you’re no longer on death row. Governor Ivey commuted your sentence to life in prison without parole.’

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“And [Burton] “Oh, I can’t believe it, big guy,” Schulz told Fox News Digital. “So I reached out and gave him a big hug.”

Burton echoed this sentiment, expressing relief that his life had been spared, while vowing to devote his life to doing “the right thing”.

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“I’m alive right now and I’m living well,” Burton said.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall condemned the governor’s decision, saying Burton “put a gun to the store manager’s head” before splitting the money stolen in the robbery.

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“There was never any question that Sonny Burton had Douglas Battle’s blood on his hands,” Marshall said, according to The Associated Press.

Marshall did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Alice Marie Johnson, who served as the Trump administration’s “donation czar,” praised Ivey’s decision in a statement, adding that it “shows what bold, prudent leadership looks like.”

“By commuting the death sentence of Charles ‘Sonny’ Burton, he ensured that justice, not technicalities, would guide the most serious decision a state can make,” Johnson wrote in a social media post.

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Burton remains grateful to Ivey and her supporters as she tries to seize her second chance at life.

“I want to thank everyone,” Burton said. “I especially want to thank the government for saving our lives and giving them some money. Even though I’m not a free man, I’m in a place right now where I’m needed.”

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As Burton begins to move towards his second chance at life, his new plans include eating some ice cream on the evening of his execution.

Speaking to Fox News Digital, Burton said, “Today is the day I have to die, the day I will be executed.” he said. “Thank God, save him from the devil’s hand.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.