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    • Despite a pardon, Emmanuel Littlejohn was executed in Oklahoma
    Alabama

    Despite a pardon, Emmanuel Littlejohn was executed in Oklahoma

    Idris Bevan Posted on

    In August, things looked better for Emmanuel Littlejohn when the state parole board recommended a pardon. But Republican Governor Kevin Stitt was undeterred and allowed the execution to go ahead.

    Emmanuel Littlejohn was executed by the state of Oklahoma on Thursday morning. The popular store owner’s death was caused by gunfire, despite a clemency board recommending that he be kept alive.

    Littlejohn was convicted of murdering Kenneth Meers in 1992. The robbery ended in death. Littlejohn had admitted his involvement in the robbery, but insisted until his death that an accomplice had pulled the trigger.

    Littlejohn’s execution was the fourth in the United States in less than a week and came just hours before the nitrogen gas execution of Alan Eugene Miller in Alabama on Thursday evening.

    Littlejohn pleaded for his life to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt after the state’s Board of Pardons and Parole recommended a clemency for him in August – a fleeting victory for the clemency campaign waged in his name.

    “A jury found (Littlejohn) guilty and sentenced him to death. The decision was affirmed by multiple judges,” Stitt said in a statement released after the execution. “As a governor who stands for law and order, it is difficult for me to unilaterally overturn this decision.”

    Littlejohn conveyed his message to Stitt in an interview with USA TODAY before his death: “I would say to the governor: Do what you think is right.”

    Littlejohn reiterated his plea to Meers’ family during his testimony at the clemency hearing.

    “Now listen to me, I’m sorry,” Littlejohn said. “Oklahoma and the Meers family won’t stop you from killing me.”

    How did Emmanuel Littlejohn do it?

    The state administered a triple drug of midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride to complete the execution. Littlejohn was pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m., according to Oklahoma Department of Corrections officials.

    Littlejohn’s last meal, last words

    Rev. Jeff Hood, Littlejohn’s spiritual advisor and a well-known anti-death penalty activist, had his last meeting with Littlejohn on Tuesday.

    Hood said Littlejohn’s final day included meetings with his mother and stepfather and phone calls with his daughter and granddaughter.

    “I have seen time and time again that those who are the bravest in these moments are perhaps also the most human. They are the ones who hold on until the moment of death and dare to be themselves,” Hood said.

    His last meal consisted of a large meat-lovers’ pizza, two pieces of cheesecake and Coca-Cola.

    USA TODAY is working to confirm Littlejohn’s final words as he lay on the execution bed Thursday.

    Why was Emmanuel Littlejohn convicted?

    Littlejohn was one of two robbers who stole money from the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in south Oklahoma City on June 19, 1992. Littlejohn was 20 years old at the time.

    31-year-old Kenneth Meers was killed by a single shot to the face as he charged at the robbers with a broom.

    Witnesses disagreed on who fired the gun. Littlejohn pardon activists point to witnesses who said the “bigger man” was the shooter, meaning Meers’ accomplice Glenn Bethany. The state presented court testimony from robbery survivors who identified Littlejohn as the shooter.

    At the pardon hearing, prosecutors argued that the shooting was due to debts owed by Littlejohn and Bethany, who were selling drugs at the time.

    Littlejohn had recently been released from prison after pleading guilty and being found guilty of burglary, assault and robbery, according to the state’s clemency petition.

    The burglary plea resulted from an altercation following a car accident in which Littlejohn admitted to stealing a car radio. The robbery and assault plea resulted from a robbery at a drug house.

    Bethany was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder in 1993.

    Littlejohn was sentenced to death for first-degree murder in 1994. A second jury also voted for the death penalty at a re-sentencing in 2000. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the re-sentencing based on the inadmissible testimony of a jailhouse informant.

    Who was Kenneth Meers?

    Kenneth Meers was the youngest of six children and grew up in southeast Oklahoma City. He loved music, his job and skiing in Colorado, the state’s anti-Clemency package says.

    Meers 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 developed a close bond with the store and the surrounding community. Their mother, Delores Meers, said in court that Kenneth regularly supported those in need and even hosted an annual Christmas gift raffle for local children.

    The Meers family spoke out in favor of Littlejohn’s execution by the state, describing Kenneth as a community-minded person who was willing to help those in need.

    “I believe my mother died of a broken heart,” Bill Meers said during the pardon hearing. “I cannot and will not forgive this man for so recklessly considering Kenny’s life worthless.”

    What did Littlejohn argue in his petition for clemency?

    At the heart of Littlejohn’s appeal was an allegation of prosecutorial misconduct. His lawyers complained that the same prosecutor claimed Bethany was the shooter in the first trial and claimed Littlejohn was the shooter in the subsequent trial.

    “I believe that Emmanuel was not the shooter, but at a very basic level there was ambiguity before the parole board,” Hood previously told USA TODAY in an interview. “I believe that the district attorney and the prosecutors created a situation where it should be impossible to execute someone because you’re not sure that the person you’re executing is the actual shooter.”

    During the pardon hearing, Littlejohn’s attorneys said the inmate’s childhood was affected by his mother’s addiction and his violent environment. Attorneys presented a video in which his mother admitted to using drugs during her pregnancy and during Littlejohn’s childhood. She got clean after her son was sentenced to death.

    “At the time of the Root-N-Scoot robbery, 20-year-old Littlejohn’s brain was still developing in critical areas, and given his difficult childhood during which he was frequently exposed to violence and drugs, his brain was already fragile and less developed than that of a typical 20-year-old,” Littlejohn’s lawyers wrote in their clemency petition.

    Littlejohn’s lawyers argued that he used his time in prison to grow up and is now a positive role model for his daughter and grandchildren.

    This story has been updated with new information

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    Idris Bevan
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