On March 6, 1998, 68-year-old contract courier William Clinton Clayton Jr. was shot to death by an unknown person while he was taking money out of an ATM in downtown Centre, Alabama.
The killer was later identified as Keith Edmund Gavin, a resident of Chicago who was out on parole after serving 16 years of a 34-year jail term for a 1982 murder case in his native state of Illinois.
[2] Born in Chicago, Illinois on March 30, 1960, Keith Edmund Gavin, the second of 12 children in his family, grew up in a ghetto-like neighbourhood where drug activity and gang violence was rampant.
[4] On March 6, 1998, in Centre, Cherokee County, Alabama, 68-year-old William Clayton Jr. was murdered via shooting by Keith Edmund Gavin, who was then two weeks short of turning 38.
[6][8] Danny Smith, an investigator from the District Attorney's Office of the Ninth Judicial Circuit caught sight of Clayton's van and gave chase.
An autopsy revealed that one of the two bullets in Clayton's body penetrated the left arm, heart and lungs, and it was stuck at the passenger-side door of the van.
[24][25] For security reasons, Gavin was transferred to the St. Clair Correctional Facility prior to his official sentencing,[26] which was originally scheduled to occur on December 6, 1999,[27] but the hearing was delayed to January 5, 2000.
[28] On January 5, 2000, for the charge of murdering William Clayton Jr., 39-year-old Keith Edmund Gavin was sentenced to death by Circuit Judge David A.
[3][4] On April 18, 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court authorized the death warrant of Gavin after approving the request of the state attorney general.
In the appeal itself, Gavin petitioned for a stay of execution and maintained that he was innocent and never killed Clayton, and asked for a review of his case.
Matt revealed that his mother was still healthy at the age of 94 and he felt lucky to have his mother around for most of his life since his father left at a younger age, and while he noted that Gavin was not remorseful for the murder of his father, the family had long forgiven him for the tragedy, partly on account of Gavin's tragic childhood and upbringing.
Matt expressed his intention to attend the execution of Gavin, mainly to represent his family and to acknowledge the efforts of the state officials in bringing his father's killer to justice.
[2] On July 18, 2024, 26 years after he murdered William Clayton Jr., 64-year-old Keith Edmund Gavin was officially put to death via lethal injection at Holman Correctional Facility.
[53] Matt Clayton, the victim's youngest son who witnessed the execution, told the press that his father was a good man who was dearly missed by his wife and children and he "did not deserve to die this way".
On the date of his execution, Gavin reportedly declined a last meal offer, but he helped himself with ice cream and Mountain Dew.