(AL.com) Alabama won’t conduct an autopsy on a death row inmate after his lethal-injection execution next week. The inmate had sued the state to block the post-execution autopsy because of his religious beliefs as a Muslim.
“No autopsy will be performed on Keith Edmund Gavin,” according to a statement Friday afternoon from the Alabama Department of Corrections to reporters. “His remains will be picked up by the attending funeral home.”
Gavin, 64, who describes himself as a devout Muslim, does not plan any further appeals in his case before the July 18 execution at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. But in June he filed a lawsuit asking the state to forego the usual post-execution autopsy due to his religious beliefs. The lawsuit was filed after his attorneys said they couldn’t reach a resolution with the state.
