The Alabama Department of Corrections executed Geoffrey Todd West on Thursday for the 1997 capital murder of Margaret Parrish Berry.

Governor Kay Ivey told Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm on Thursday afternoon that she would not exercise her clemency powers in this case and directed him to proceed with West's lawfully imposed death sentence.

"Almost 30 years ago, Margaret Parrish Berry went to work at the convenience store, but she would never get to return home," Ivey said. "Geoffrey West went in with the intent to rob and kill, and he cowardly shot Ms. Berry in the back of the head. Alabama law imposes death as punishment for the most egregious forms of murder, and there was no question of Mr. West's guilt by the jury in this case or any court over the last thr

See Full Page