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    • Family of Oklahoma man killed refuses forgiveness for death row inmate
    Alabama

    Family of Oklahoma man killed refuses forgiveness for death row inmate

    Idris Bevan Posted on

    Kenneth Meers of Oklahoma City “just didn’t have a bad bone in his body.” Emmanuel Littlejohn, one of two men convicted of Meers’ murder, is scheduled to be executed Thursday.

    Kenneth Meers practically grew up at the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in Oklahoma City. He started working there at age 13 and liked the store so much that he and his brother eventually bought it.

    For Meers, Root-N-Scoot was much more than a grocery store. He and the store became a staple in the community. Meers bought groceries out of his own pocket for people in need and held a Christmas raffle each year for the neighborhood children.

    And then, on a terrible night in June 1992, the store became the site of his final moments.

    Two men came in to rob the store. When Meers attacked them with a broom, one of them shot him in the face.

    “Kenny, who was 31 years old at the time of his death, was loving, hardworking, had a good soul and simply had no bad blood in his body,” said a document from the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office obtained by USA TODAY.

    More than three decades after the crime, Oklahoma is on the verge of executing Emmanuel Littlejohn for Meers’ murder. Littlejohn has always maintained that while he was one of the two robbers, he was not the shooter – an argument that seemed to convince the state’s parole board, which, in an unusual move, recommended a pardon for him.

    Littlejohn’s execution is still scheduled for Thursday because Oklahoma’s Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, would have to agree to the recommendation for Littlejohn’s life to be spared.

    As the execution approaches, USA TODAY investigates who Meers was, learns more about the crime and how Littlejohn is fighting the maximum sentence.

    What happened to Kenneth Meers?

    According to the Attorney General’s Office, Emmanuel Littlejohn and Glenn Bethany planned to rob the Root-N-Scoot to pay off a debt to a drug supplier.

    Witnesses disagreed about who fired the single shot that killed Meers.

    Pardon activists for Littlejohn point to witnesses who said the “bigger man” was the shooter, by which they meant Bethany. The state presented court testimony from robbery survivors who identified Littlejohn as the shooter.

    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.

    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.

    His brother, Bill Meers, who co-owned the Root-N-Scoot with Kenneth, told the court during Littlejohn’s trial that his brother had developed a close bond with the store and the surrounding community.

    Her mother, Delores Meers, told the court that Kenneth regularly helped people in need.

    “If there was someone in really great need or someone he knew needed help and he didn’t tell them, he would always buy them groceries,” Delores said in court testimony included in the state’s pardon package. “I saw him buy children’s shoes. I saw him buy coats.”

    Every Christmas, she said, her son had all the local children put their names in a box and then he raffled off gifts like bicycles, televisions and stereos. “Just for the kids,” she said.

    The state said Kenneth was particularly close to his mother and called her every day.

    Family supports Littlejohn’s execution

    The Meers family supported the state’s execution of Littlejohn.

    “I think my mother died of a broken heart,” Bill Meers said during the hearing.

    According to his statement, the family read a letter from Delores Meers that she had written before her death.

    “Ever since this all happened, it seems like everything has fallen apart,” she wrote. “There are so many moments where I just need him to talk about everything. It’s just not right for a child to come before their parents.”

    Littlejohn told USA TODAY before the clemency hearing that he asked the family for forgiveness.

    “My cousin and her baby were killed by someone. They were on death row and I wanted him executed,” Littlejohn said. “So I understand her feelings and I pray for her. But I did not kill her son.”

    Bill Meers rejects the attempt, saying: “I cannot and will not forgive this man for carelessly concluding that Kenny’s life was worthless.”

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    Idris Bevan
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