MCALESTER, Okla. (KFOR) – Oklahoma executed death row inmate, Emmanuel Littlejohn, at the State Penitentiary in McAlester on Thursday.
Littlejohn was pronounced dead at 10:17am.
The 52-year-old’s mother and daughter sat on the front row of the execution witness room. He used his last words to tell them goodbye.
"I was a young man who was mad at the world," said Littlejohn last month during his clemency hearing weeks before his execution.
Littlejohn received the death penalty after the 1992 murder of Kenneth “Kenny” Meers.
In 1992, Littlejohn was on parole after serving a prison sentence for burglaries, robberies, and assault. Prosecutors said shortly after being released, he turned to selling drugs to make money.
During the clemency hearing, prosecutors said Littlejohn and his accomplice, Glenn Bethany, needed money to pay off a drug debt. To obtain the money, they decided to rob the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in southeast OKC.
Prosecutors said Littlejohn held two teenage workers at gunpoint while emptying out the cash register. Shortly after Meers emerged from the backroom, Littlejohn shot Meers in the face, then Littlejohn and Bethany took off.
First responders rushed Meers to the hospital, where he later died.
His family said Meers was “well-loved by customers” and was “always willing to helpt hose in need.”
Littlejohn claimed it was Bethany who ultimately pulled the trigger, despite the two teenage boys describing Littlejohn as the gunman.
Two other witnesses across the street told investigators said they believed Bethany was the shooter. Prosecutors told the Pardon and Parole Board those witnesses admitted to being drunk and were not able to see well at a distance.
Bethany received life without parole.
Inside the execution chambers, Littlejohn used his last words to speak to his family on the front row.
“He said, ‘Mom, are you okay?’ She said, ‘Oh, I'm okay.’ I said, ‘I love you. I'm okay. Everything is going to be okay,’” recalled Sean Murphy with the Associated Press. “He also said told his daughter that he loved her. She responded, ‘I love you, too.’”
They blew kisses back and forth. While the execution was carried out, his mother clutched onto her golden cross necklace, kissing it at times while sobbing and whispering to herself.
She repeated things like, ‘Oh God’, ‘My God,’ ‘My baby,’ ‘I love you,’ ‘love you so much,’ ‘Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.’ And we believe she said, ‘My God has forsaken me’ or ‘My God has forsaken him.
“His daughter never did let go of his mother,” said Paxson Haws with the Norman Transcript.
After the execution, the witnesses heard his mother say, “They killed my son.”
The Meers family declined to speak to the media after the execution. Instead, they had Attorney General Gentner Drummond speak on their behalf. They thanked the Department of Corrections, Oklahoma Prosecutors, and the AG’s team.
Last month, the Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Littlejohn. However, Governor Kevin Stitt never voiced a formal announcement.
Minutes after Littlejohn was executed, the governor issued the following statement:
"These decisions are very difficult and I do not make them lightly. Mr. Littlejohn murdered an innocent man 32 years ago while robbing a convenience store. A jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death. The decision was upheld by multiple judges. As a law and order governor, I have a hard time unilaterally overturning that decision. Today, justice for this life lost was carried out. I hope this brings closure to the families impacted by this murder."
Littlejohn’s last meal consisted of a “Max Meat Pizza,” two slices of cheesecake, and a Coke.
