Alabama Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of Charles "Sonny" Burton, a 75-year-old inmate who was scheduled to be executed this week. Burton's sentence was reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Burton was sentenced to death for his role in the shooting death of Doug Battle during a 1991 robbery. However, Burton was not in the building when the fatal shot was fired. Another man actually shot and killed Battle after Burton had left the premises.

The case presented an unusual circumstance where the person who fired the fatal shot received a lesser sentence than his accomplice. The actual shooter's death sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment on appeal, creating what Governor Ivey described as "disparate circumstances."

"I cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances," the Republican governor said in a statement. "I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not."

The commutation came after advocates gathered outside the Alabama Governor's Mansion in Montgomery to urge clemency for Burton. The case had drawn attention due to the unusual circumstances surrounding Burton's conviction and the disparity in sentences between the co-defendants.

Burton had been scheduled for execution on March 12, making this commutation a last-minute reprieve for the elderly inmate who had spent over three decades on death row.