Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, was executed in Oklahoma for his role in the 1992 shooting death of a convenience store owner after Governor Kevin Stitt declined to commute his sentence to life in prison without parole. Littlejohn was put to death by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, marking the third execution in the state this year. His execution came after a recommendation from the state’s parole board to spare his life was rejected.
Littlejohn was convicted of robbing the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in Oklahoma City in June 1992, resulting in the death of store owner Kenneth Meers. During his video testimony to the Pardon and Parole Board, Littlejohn apologized to Meers’ family but denied firing the fatal shot. His attorneys argued that he would not have been sentenced to death if tried in more recent years, as prosecutors today would not pursue the death penalty in similar cases.
Despite a 3-2 recommendation from the board to commute Littlejohn’s sentence, Governor Stitt chose to uphold the death penalty. Stitt has only granted clemency once during his tenure, commuting Julius Jones’ death sentence, but has denied recommendations to spare the lives of other inmates who were subsequently executed. The execution of Littlejohn also marks a potential milestone, as there was another execution scheduled in Alabama on the same day, potentially bringing the total number of executions in the U.S. to 1,600 since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.
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