A condemned man who steadfastly denied beating his...

A condemned man who steadfastly denied beating his girlfriend to death in 1990 escaped execution Thursday as Gov. Mike Easley commuted his death sentence to life in prison. Charlie Mason Alston Jr., 42, was to die by injection at 2 a.m. Friday at Central Prison. Alston was sentenced to death in 1992 for the beating and suffocation death of his former girlfriend, Pamela Renee Perry. Alston contended his innocence would be proved by DNA tests on evidence that has disappeared.Just last year, the legislature approved a law allowing every inmate charged with murder to request a DNA test. Easley did not specify why he commuted the sentence. Charlie Mason Alston was featured in the "We, on death row" campaign by photographer Oliviero Toscani in 2000.