J. D. Gleaton was born in 1945 in the United States and grew up in South Carolina. Not much is publicly documented about his early life, but at the time of the crime, Gleaton was 32 years old and struggling with drug addiction. He shared a troubled path with his half-brother, Larry Gilbert, who was 23 when they committed the murder that would ultimately lead to both of their executions.

In July 1977, Gleaton and Gilbert were reportedly high on drugs and aimlessly driving around Lexington County, South Carolina. Having failed to procure more drugs, the brothers turned to robbery to support their habit. That decision would result in a brutal, senseless killing and a landmark legal case that made them the first individuals sentenced to death under South Carolina's reinstated capital punishment law.

On July 12, 1977, in South Congaree, South Carolina, J. D. Gleaton and his half-brother Larry Gilbert committed a robbery that ended in the cold-blooded murder of Ralph Samuel Stoudemire, a 44-year-old gas station owner.

That afternoon, the brothers, under the influence of drugs and desperate for cash, pulled into Stoudemire’s gas station. Gleaton entered first and pretended to ask for cigarettes. While Stoudemire was attending to the request, Gleaton pulled a hunting knife, demanded money, and stabbed him several times during the struggle. Gilbert soon followed, entering with a firearm and shooting Stoudemire once in the chest.

They fled the scene with a pocketbook left by Stoudemire’s wife, not realizing the crime had been partially witnessed by Stoudemire's son, who lived across the street. The son saw the men flee and rushed to his father’s aid, but it was too late. Despite attempts to help him, Stoudemire died at the scene within 45 minutes. An autopsy revealed multiple stab wounds, including a fatal wound that pierced his heart, as well as a superficial gunshot to the chest.

The next day, police arrested both Gleaton and Gilbert. They confessed to the crime during questioning. In October 1977, both men were convicted and sentenced to death, marking the first time South Carolina imposed the death penalty under its newly reinstated law, which had been passed just a month before the murder.

Gleaton and Gilbert were also sentenced to 25 years each for armed robbery, and although their executions were initially scheduled for December 1977, a mandatory Supreme Court review delayed the process.

Their case dragged on for more than two decades, through multiple appeals and reversals. In 1979, the South Carolina Supreme Court set aside their original death sentences due to improper jury instructions, but their convictions were upheld. In a 1980 re-sentencing, both were again condemned to die. Appeals continued throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. In 1996, a federal judge granted a new trial, ruling their constitutional rights had been violated. But in 1998, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, reinstating both convictions and death sentences.

After 21 years on death row, their final appeals were denied by the U.S. Supreme Court. Governor David Beasley denied clemency, and the execution date was officially set.

On December 4, 1998, J. D. Gleaton, now 53 years old, was executed by lethal injection at the Broad River Correctional Institution, shortly after his half-brother. His last meal consisted of cinnamon roll, banana pudding, cheese, and orange juice. In his final statement, Gleaton apologized but expressed frustration at having “served a life sentence” on death row and now facing execution as well.

Their execution marked the first and only double execution in South Carolina since capital punishment resumed in 1976, and the longest time spent on death row in the state's history at the time—21 years, 1 month, and 27 days.

The murder had lasting effects on the victim’s family. Betty Slusher, Ralph Stoudemire’s widow, became a vocal advocate for crime victims. She fought to ensure justice was upheld, stating that her voice was now her husband's voice. She passed away in 2016 at the age of 82, having spent decades advocating for the rights of victim’s families.

Despite forgiveness expressed by Stoudemire’s sons, they stood firm in support of justice. At the execution, one son stated that both families had lost something again, 21 years later. Outside the prison, human rights groups protested the execution, while the family mourned and remembered their loved one.