Oklahoma is set to execute Emmanuel Littlejohn in the shooting death of a beloved convenience store owner despite murky evidence in the case and a clemency board voting in favor of sparing his life.
Littlejohn, 52, is set to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday, 22 years after the murder of Kenneth Meers during a convenience store robbery in Oklahoma City. Littlejohn has admitted to being one of the two men robbing Meers but says he isn't the one who pulled the trigger.
Littlejohn has been at the center of a clemency campaign that has pointed to inconsistencies in how prosecutors at the time handled charging Littlejohn and an accomplice to the robbery. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Littlejohn in a rare move in August, but Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has the final say.
If the execution goes forward, Littlejohn will be the fourth man executed in the U.S. in less than a week, with a fifth execution set in Alabama for later on Thursday, when Alan Eugene Miller is scheduled to be put to death with a controversial nitrogen gas method. By end of day Thursday, the U.S. will have executed 18 men in 2024.
Here's what you need to know about Littlejohn's execution.
Littlejohn is scheduled to die by lethal injection sometime after 10 a.m. CT on Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, about 125 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.
The state is set to administer three drugs to Littlejohn, including midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. The state has used the method since Stitt lifted a moratorium on executions in the state in 2020, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Littlejohn was one of two robbers who took money from the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in southern Oklahoma City on June 19, 1992. Littlejohn was 20 years old at the time.
Kenneth Meers, 31, was killed by a single shot to the face as he charged at the robbers with a broom.
Witnesses differed on who fired the gun. Clemency activists for Littlejohn point to witnesses who said the "taller man" was the shooter, referring to Meers' accomplice, Glenn Bethany. The state put forward court testimony from the survivors of the robbery who identified Littlejohn as the shooter.
Bethany was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 1993.
Littlejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1994. A second jury in 2000 also voted for the death penalty at a resentencing trial. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the resentencing because of improper testimony from a jailhouse informant.
Kenneth Meers was the youngest of six children and grew up in southeastern Oklahoma City. He loved music, his job, and skiing in Colorado, according to the state's anti-clemency packet.
Meers had worked at the Root-N-Scoot convenience store since he was 13 years old and later co-owned it with his brother, Bill Meers.
Bill Meers told the court during Littlejohn's trial that his brother had grown attached to that store and the community surrounding it. Their mother, Delores Meers, said in court that Kenneth would regularly support those who had fallen on hard times and even held a yearly Christmas gift raffle for area children.
The Meers family spoke in support of the state executing Littlejohn, describing Kenneth as a person who was community-minded and willing to help those in need.
"I believe my mom died of a broken heart," Bill Meers said during the clemency hearing. "I cannot and will not forgive this man for carelessly finding Kenny's life meant nothing."
Littlejohn has been at the center of a clemency campaign led by anti-death penalty activist the Rev. Jeff Hood, who has witnessed seven executions in various states.
"I believe Emmanuel wasn't the shooter but on a very basic level, before the parole board, you got ambiguity," Hood previously told USA TODAY. "I believe that the district attorney and the prosecutors created a situation where it should be impossible to execute someone because you aren't sure that the person that you're executing is the actual shooter."
The clemency movement has echoed the one for of Julius Jones, the only person sentenced to death to receive clemency from Stitt since 2020.
No forgiveness:Family of Oklahoma man gunned down rejects Emmanuel Littlejohn's pleas
Hood had his final meeting with Littlejohn on Tuesday.
The pair took communion and discussed what could potentially be Littlejohn's last statements. Hood noted that Littlejohn was aware of the three other executions taking place this week, including that of Marcellus Williams in Missouri.
"He just kept saying, 'I want Governor Stitt to stand with us,' Hood said. "Not just that he wants clemency, but he wants Governor Stitt to stand on the side of hope."
Hood said that Littlejohn's final day would include meetings with his mother and stepfather, as well as calls to his daughter and granddaughter.
"I've seen it repeatedly that it seems that those who are most courageous in these moments are perhaps the most human in these moments, are those who can walk right up till the moment of death and dare to be themselves," Hood said.
Littlejohn requested a meat-lovers style pizza, two slices of cheesecake and Coca-Cola for his final meal.
Reporters from the following news outlets are scheduled to witness the execution, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections:
There are currently 34 people on death row in Oklahoma including Littlejohn, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The state has executed 13 people since Stitt lifted a moratorium on the practice in 2020, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
