Oklahoma executed a man by lethal injection on Thursday morning, despite conflicting evidence regarding his guilt.
Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, was executed by lethal injection for his role in the 1992 shooting death of a convenience store owner during a robbery in Oklahoma City. Littlejohn was the third inmate put to death by the state this year. He was 20 years old at the time the crime was committed.
During the robbery, the store owner, Kenneth Meers, 31, was shot in the face while trying to defend himself. Although Littlejohn admitted to his involvement in the robbery, he has maintained that his accomplice, Glenn Bethany, was the one who pulled the trigger. Bethany was sentenced to life without parole, while Littlejohn was sentenced to death.
“I committed a robbery that had devastating consequences,” Littlejohn said during the hearing. “But, I repeat, I did not kill Mr Meers.”
Littlejohn’s case has raised questions over conflicting evidence, with some witnesses pointing at Bethany as the shooter. His legal team argued against his execution, citing “inconsistent prosecutions” in his case. His lawyers also mentioned Littlejohn’s troubled childhood and underdeveloped brain at the time of the crime.
His team emphasized his personal growth in prison, where he has become a positive role model for his family.
“He was young and foolish,” Littlejohn’s mother, Ceily Mason, told KFOR. “He’s grown up and older, and he deserves a chance.”
Several jurors have admitted they mistakenly voted for the death penalty because they misunderstood the implications of a life without parole sentence.
During a hearing last month, Oklahoma’s pardon and parole board voted 3-2 to recommend the state’s governor, Kevin Stitt, spare Littlejohn’s life.
In 2021, the governor commuted the sentence of Julius Jones, who was convicted for the 1999 murder of Paul Howell, to life without the possibility of parole just a few hours before his execution. But no such decision was taken for Littlejohn.
Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general, Gentner Drummond, argued against clemency to the governor, calling Littlejohn a “violent and manipulative killer”.
Littlejohn had expressed remorse for the robbery and sought forgiveness from the victim’s family, who were still in favor of his execution. The family described Meers as a pillar of the community, and his brother, Bill Meers, expressed that he could not forgive Littlejohn for taking his brother’s life, according to the local news outlet Oklahoma Voice.
Anti-death penalty activists, including the Rev Jeff Hood, have rallied around Littlejohn’s case, expressing their concern over the uncertainty of whether he was the actual shooter.
The last few days have witnessed a slew of executions across the country. On Tuesday, Marcellus Williams, 55, and Travis Mullis, 38, were executed in Missouri and Texas, respectively. Alan Miller, 59, is also scheduled for execution in Texas on Thursday.
Last week, South Carolina executed Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah just days after the key witness for the prosecution came forward to say he had lied at trial and the state was putting to death an innocent man.
