Alabama Inmate Keith Edmund Gavin Requests No Autopsy After Execution Due to Muslim Faith

Alabama Death Row inmate Keith Edmund Gavin says he won’t seek any last-minute appeals to halt his execution next week, but he is asking state officials for one thing: not to conduct an autopsy on his body due to his religious beliefs.

“Mr. Gavin is a devout Muslim,” states a lawsuit filed by his lawyers last month. “His religion teaches that the human body is a sacred temple that must be kept whole. As a result, Mr. Gavin sincerely believes that an autopsy would desecrate his body and violate the sanctity of keeping his body intact. Based on his faith, Mr. Gavin is fiercely opposed to an autopsy being performed on his body after his execution.”

The lawsuit also mentions Gavin’s “special concern” about the treatment of his body, citing a series of lawsuits from families of deceased inmates alleging that bodies were returned with missing organs.

Filed on June 14 in Montgomery Circuit Court, Gavin’s lawsuit came after his lawyers failed to reach a resolution with state officials regarding the handling of his remains.

The lawsuit clarifies that Gavin “does not anticipate any further appeals or requests for stays of his execution” and that the autopsy request is not an attempt to delay the execution.

Defendants in the lawsuit include Escambia County District Attorney Stephen Billy, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm, William C. Holman warden Terry Raybon, Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences Director Angelo Della Manna, and Chief Medical Examiner for ADFS Edward Reedy.

Alabama law allows state officials the discretion to order or waive an autopsy after an execution, though autopsies are routinely performed. The lawsuit argues that autopsies are meant to establish the cause of death, which will be clear in Gavin’s case since he will be executed by lethal injection.

The state could also opt for a less invasive autopsy, the lawsuit notes.

The Alabama Attorney General’s office is working towards a resolution, according to William Califf, deputy chief of staff of the attorney general’s office, which represents the defendants.

Gavin is scheduled to be executed on July 18 for the March 1998 murder of William Clayton Jr. in Cherokee County. The execution could extend into July 19 if there are delays. He will be executed by lethal injection at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, the only prison in the state with an execution chamber and the main housing for death row inmates.

Court records indicate that Gavin, on parole from Illinois, was arrested for the shooting death of Clayton, a courier service driver, during an attempted robbery at an ATM in downtown Centre. Gavin shot Clayton, drove off in his van, shot at a pursuing investigator, and was subsequently apprehended. Clayton was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Two eyewitnesses, including Gavin’s cousin, identified him as the shooter. Gavin’s cousin, an employee of the Illinois Department of Corrections, testified about the events, including Gavin firing shots at the van driver and the investigator.

Gavin had been released on parole just months before the incident after serving 17 years of a 34-year sentence for murder in Illinois. His appeals have failed in both state and federal courts, with the U.S. Supreme Court declining to review his case in 2005, 2017, and again in May 2023.