Keith Gavin uttered "I love my family" moments before Alabama executed him by lethal injection for the 1998 murder of a father of seven who stopped at an ATM to grab some cash to take his wife to dinner, according to AL.com.
The 64-year-old Gavin's time of death was listed as 6:32 p.m. Thursday, according to the state attorney general.
The execution took place after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review his case. Gavin made a handwritten plea to the justices on Wednesday.
Gavin was accompanied in the execution chamber by his imam, who was dressed in a black robe and spoke to the condemned man in a conversation that was inaudible to those in the viewing rooms, the outlet reported.
Asked if he had any last words, Gavin said, "I love my family," and then said several words in Arabic.
He then pointed his index fingers upward, leaned his head back and closed his eyes, his mouth falling open, AL.com reported.
The imam continued speaking, apparently praying over Gavin, before stepping back from the gurney.
Gavin was put to death for the slaying of William Clayton Jr. in March 1998 during a botched robbery as Clayton tried to withdraw cash for a date with his wife.
The victim's son, Matthew Clayton, who witnessed the execution, said his dad was "the last victim of Keith Edmund Gavin."
Clayton, the youngest of seven children, described his father as a devoted husband for 38 years and an Army veteran.
"I have often described him as a slice of Americana, very classic American values and beliefs. He was a man with an incredible work ethic," the son said.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said "there is no doubt about Gavin's guilt for this heinous offense," noting that he was identified by four witnesses.
"I cannot imagine the shock, pain, and frustration that William's family has endured over the last 26 years. I pray his family finds solace in the long-awaited justice by the State of Alabama," Marshall said.
