An Alabama inmate, Keith Edmund Gavin, who is scheduled to be executed on July 18, has decided not to seek a court order to block his execution. However, Gavin has filed a lawsuit requesting that the state refrain from conducting an autopsy on his body after his death due to his Muslim faith, which views the human body as a sacred temple that should remain intact. Gavin was convicted in the 1998 killing of a delivery driver during a robbery at an ATM.
According to his attorneys, they were unable to reach a satisfactory agreement with state officials regarding Gavin’s wish to avoid an autopsy. They clarified that the lawsuit is not an attempt to postpone the execution and that Gavin does not plan to file any further appeals or requests for delays in his execution.
William Califf, a spokesperson for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, stated that they are currently working towards finding a resolution to the matter.
Gavin was found guilty of capital murder in the shooting death of William Clinton Clayton Jr. in Cherokee County, Alabama. Clayton, a delivery driver, was killed at an ATM while trying to get money to take his wife out for dinner. Gavin was sentenced to death based on a jury vote of 10-2 in favor of the death penalty, a decision upheld by the trial court.
