Anti-death penalty group pushing to halt next Oklahoma execution

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A group called Death Penalty Action is pushing for Governor Kevin Stitt and Attorney General Gentner Drummond to halt the execution of Oklahoma’s next inmate.

Emmanuel Littlejohn is scheduled to be executed September 26, 2024. He’s spent the past 30 years on death row for the shooting death of convenience store manager, Kenneth Meers. Meers was working at the Root-N-Scoot convenience store when he was shot during a robbery gone wrong in 1992.

Speaking by phone from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Littlejohn said it was his accomplice, Glenn Bethany, who pulled the trigger.

“The next thing you know, Mr. Meers (was) comin' down the aisle with something in his hand that looked like a gun,” said Littlejohn. “So I take off running and go out the door. The next thing I know, I hear a shot."

Littlejohn said he was outside of the store when the gun went off, running across the street.

"I thought somebody was shooting at me, but it was Bethany shooting off inside the store," said Littlejohn.

He and Bethany were later arrested and charged with murder in the case. Bethany received a life sentence without parole while Littlejohn was given the death penalty. He exhausted all of his appeal options in 2018.

Death Penalty Action is now fighting for clemency for Littlejohn and said witness testimony backs up Littlejohn’s claims.

"We have evidence that points to Glenn Bethany as the shooter," said Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, with Death Penalty Action. "How can we execute someone when we know there are two people who have been convicted of the crime and only one person has been sentenced to death."

A clemency hearing for Littlejohn is set for August 7, 2024. Until then, the group is pushing for the Governor or AG Drummond to halt the death sentence.

Drummond sent News 4 this statement on the case: "Emmanuel Littlejohn is a remorseless killer unworthy of the public’s sympathy and undeserving of clemency. Littlejohn was convicted by a jury of his peers, and that conviction has been upheld by multiple state and federal courts. He deserves to be executed for the heartless murder of Kenny Meers, and my office will do everything in its power to ensure justice is served."