Oklahoma Pardon and Parole board recommend clemency for death row inmate

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - On Wednesday, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond expressed his disappointment in the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board's 3-2 vote recommending clemency for Emmanuel Littlejohn.

Emmanuel Littlejohn is scheduled to be executed September 26, 2024. Littlejohn has been behind bars for 30 years on death row. Littlejohn, a death row inmate was convicted of brutally murdering 31-year-old Kenny Meers during a convenience store robbery. Meers was working at the Root-N-Scoot convenience store when he was shot during a robbery in 1992.

Recently, KFOR's Adria Groins spoke with Emmanuel Littlejohn by phone and he stated, "it was his accomplice, Glenn Bethany, who pulled the trigger." Currently, Death Penalty Action is 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. 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.”

Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, with Death Penalty Action.

After appearing before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board AG Drummond confirmed his office will seek to make its case before Governor Stitt seeking to get
Emmanuel Littlejohn's clemency denied.

“I am disappointed by the Pardon and Parole Board decision today but appreciate their thoughtful deliberation. I remain steadfast that the family of Kenny Meers has waited far too long for justice to be done. My office intends to make our case to the governor why there should not be clemency granted to this violent and manipulative killer."

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond

In response to the Board’s recommendation of clemency, Dr. Elizabeth Overman, OK-CADP Vice-Chair, made the following statement:

“The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty extends sincere condolences to the family of Kenneth Meers, knowing that there is no remediation for their tragic loss and that more killing, even that done by the state, will not erase the grief and is not justice.  Further, the coalition recognizes that the Clemency Board “heard” Mr. Littlejohn’s plea for acknowledgement that life circumstances, born with drugs in his system, raised under abusive conditions of violence and abject poverty, coupled with an inability to secure an education, worked to prevent him from crafting an upstanding life for himself.   Quite correctly the Clemency Board’s 3-2 recommendation of life without parole for Mr. Littlejohn recognizes the fairness of commutation.”

This story is developing.