William Clinton Clayton, Jr., got off work on March 6, 1998, and headed to the ATM at his Regions Bank branch in Centre to get some cash to take his wife to dinner that night. However, the trip to the bank would be his last.
According to case documents, Clayton was driving a delivery van when he pulled up to the ATM. A man jumped into the van, shot Clayton in an attempted robbery and pushed him over into the passenger seat. Moments after the suspect drove off, an investigator spotted the suspect and tried to pull him over. The suspect, later identified as Keith Gavin, got out of the van and shot at the investigator, then ran into the woods.
The investigator was not hurt and stayed with Clayton until the ambulance arrived. But it was too late. Clayton was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Gavin was arrested a short time later and convicted of two counts of capital murder and one count of attempted murder. The second murder charge was added because Gavin was committing a robbery when he killed Clayton. Gavin had also recently been released from an Illinois prison after being convicted of a 1982 murder. He was granted parole in December of 1997 after serving 17 years of a 34-year prison sentence.
Gavin was given two death sentences and a life-in-prison sentence for the Alabama case.
Court documents showed experts testified that risk factors for Gavin included exposure to riots and racial tension in Chicago and exposure to gang and drug activity.
Gov. Kay Ivey set the timeframe for Gavin’s lethal injection to occur between midnight on July 18 and 6 a.m. on July 19.
“Although I have no current plans to grant clemency in this case, I retain my authority under the Constitution of the State of Alabama to grant a reprieve or commutation, if necessary, at any time before the execution is carried out,” Ivey stated in a letter to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm.
Another Alabama death row inmate, Jamie Mills, is set for lethal injection between midnight on Thursday, May 30, and 6 a.m. on Friday, May 31.
Both executions will take place at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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