OKLAHOMA CITY — The Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday set seven execution dates, including that of Oklahoma County killer Julius Jones.
Jones is set to die Nov. 18 at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board last week recommended that Gov. Kevin Stitt commute his sentence to life with the possibility of parole.
“The governor takes his role in this process seriously and will carefully consider the Pardon and Parole Board’s recommendation as he does in all cases,” said Charlie Hannema, a Stitt spokesman. “We will not have any further comment until the governor has made a decision.”
Jones was sentenced to die for the 1999 slaying of Paul Howell in Edmond.
Jones’ case has garnered national attention.
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“The court’s setting of an execution date underscores the stakes and the urgency involved with Julius Jones’ commutation application,” said Rev. Cece-Jones-Davis, a leader of the “Justice for Julius” movement. “After a thorough review and a multiple hour hearing, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3 to 1 to commute Julius’s sentence to life. We urge Governor Stitt to review the application in a timely manner and bring long-averted justice to this very tragic situation by accepting the recommendation of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.”
Howell’s family participated in the commutation hearing and objected to it.
Efforts were made to expedite clemency hearings after execution dates were requested for seven death-row offenders.
John Marion Grant was sentenced to die for the 1998 killing of Gay Carter, a prison kitchen worker at the Dick Conner Correctional Center in Hominy. The court set an Oct. 28 execution date for Grant.
A Dec. 9 execution date was set for Bigler Jobe Stouffer, who was sentenced to die for the 1985 killing of Putnam City teacher Linda Reaves.
The court set a Jan. 6 execution date for Wade Greely Lay, sentenced to death for the 2004 killing of Tulsa security guard Kenneth Anderson.
Kim Tryon of Bixby is the sister of Anderson, whom she described as sweet and kind.
She believes the offender should be put to death in the same manner as the victim was killed.
“Them getting the needle in the arm and going to sleep and dying, yes, they are done,” she said. “They are not on Earth anymore. They didn’t have to feel what their victims’ went through.”
Her brother, an Air Force veteran, died in a gunfight with Lay and his son, Christopher Douglas Lay, during an armed robbery at MidFirst Bank in Tulsa. Christopher Lay received life without parole.
The court set a Jan. 27 execution date for Donald Anthony Grant. Grant was sentenced to die for the 2001 murders of Del City motel workers Brenda McElyea and Suzette Smith.
The court set a Feb. 17 execution date for Gilbert Ray Postelle. He was convicted of killing four people in 2005 outside a trailer in Del City. He received the death penalty for two of the murders.
The court set a March 10 execution date for James Allen Codington, who was sentenced to die for the 1997 killing of Albert Hale in Oklahoma County.
The action comes after the state put the death penalty on hold following the 2014 botched execution of Clayton Lockett, the 2015 execution of Charles Warner using the wrong drug, a review of the lethal-injection protocol and litigation.
Twenty-six prisoners have challenged the state’s execution method in federal court. The case is pending.
“We are concerned that the court set these dates when it knows unresolved questions about Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol remain pending in the federal district court,” said Dale Baich, a Arizona assistant federal defender who represents Jones and worked on the lethal injection case. “To allow executions to proceed when there is a chance the federal court could find a constitutionally unacceptable risk that a person could suffer because of the drug combination used is deeply troubling.”
Gov. Kevin Stitt now has final say on whether the convicted killer's sentence will be commuted to life with the possibility of parole.
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Richard Glossip

Name: Richard Glossip
Birthdate: 02/09/1953
Offense: First-degree murder, two death sentences
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 06/01/1998, 08/27/2004
On death row since: 08/31/1998. He has exhausted his court appeals and has had his execution date moved multiple times to allow time for the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to address pending legal proceedings. Glossip is currently set to be executed May 18, 2023.
Jemaine Cannon

Name: Jemaine Cannon
Birthdate: 11/13/1971
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Tulsa
Conviction date: 03/26/1995
On death row since: 4/8/1996. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for July 20, 2023.
Anthony Sanchez

Name: Anthony Sanchez
Birthdate: 11/01/1978
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Cleveland
Conviction date: 06/06/2006
On death row since: 6/7/2006. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for Sept. 21, 2023.
Phillip Hancock

Name: Phillip Hancock
Birthdate: 02/15/1964
Offense: First-degree murder, two death sentences
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 10/25/2004
On death row since: 11/01/2004. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for Nov. 30, 2023.
James Ryder

Name: James Ryder
Birthdate: 03/30/1962
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Pittsburg
Conviction date: 06/21/2000
On death row since: 6/23/2000. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for Feb. 1, 2024.
Michael D. Smith

Name: Michael D. Smith
Birthdate: 06/24/1982
Offense: First-degree murder, two death sentences
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 10/14/2003
On death row since: 10/20/2003. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for April 4, 2024.
Wade Lay

Name: Wade Lay
Birthdate: 02/28/1961
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Tulsa
Conviction date: 10/24/2005
On death row since: 10/31/2005. He has exhausted his appeals. His execution is set for June 6, 2024.
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John Fitzgerald Hanson

Name: John Fitzgerald Hanson
Offense: First-degree murder
County convicted: Tulsa
Conviction date: 05/23/2001, 01/24/2006
On death row since: 2002. He has exhausted his court appeals and has an execution date set for Dec. 15, 2022. Because he remains in federal custody, and the current administration has established a moratorium on the death penalty, the Bureau of Prisons has said it will not release Hanson to the state for execution.
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Alfred Mitchell

Name: Alfred Mitchell
Birthdate: 12/23/1972
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 07/10/1992
On death row since: 7/15/1992. Click here to read more. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for Oct. 3, 2024.
Marlon Harmon

Name: Marlon Harmon
Birthdate: 07/12/1980
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 07/02/2008
On death row since: 07/14/2008. Click here to read more. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for Dec. 5, 2024.
Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez

Name: Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez
Birthdate: 10/04/1955
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 08/15/2007
On death row since: 8/20/2007. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for June 6, 2024.
Clarence Goode Jr.

Name: Clarence Goode Jr.
Birthdate: 04/22/1976
Offense: First-degree murder, three death sentences
County Convicted: Tulsa
Conviction date: 12/10/2007
On death row since: 1/14/2008. He has exhausted his appeals. His execution is set for June 6, 2024.
Emmanuel Littlejohn

Name: Emmanuel Littlejohn
Birthdate: 11/09/1971
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 11/23/1994
On death row since: 11/30/1994. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for Nov. 2, 2023.
James Pavatt

Name: James Pavatt
Birthdate: 11/10/1953
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 10/21/2003
Death row rulings: Put on death row in 2003, Pavatt had his death sentence overturned in 2017. A federal court overturned that ruling, reinstating Pavatt's death sentence on June 27, 2019. His appeals have been exhausted. His execution is set for July 11, 2024.
Kendrick Simpson

Name: Kendrick Simpson
Birthdate: 10/02/1980
Offense: First-degree murder, two death sentences
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 10/26/2007
On death row since: 11/5/2007. His execution is set for March 7, 2024.
Kevin Underwood

Name: Kevin Underwood
Birthdate: 12/19/1979
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Cleveland
Conviction date: 04/03/2008
On death row since: 04/07/2008. His execution is set for Dec. 7, 2023.
Raymond E. Johnson

Name: Raymond Johnson
Birthdate: 03/25/1974
Offense: First-degree murder, two death sentences
County Convicted: Tulsa
Conviction date: 07/28/2009
On death row since: 08/10/2009. His execution is set for May 2, 2024.
Richard Rojem

Name: Richard Rojem Jr.
Birthdate: 12/19/1957
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Washington
Conviction date: 07/15/1985
On death row since: 07/15/1985. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for Oct. 5, 2023.
Ricky Malone

Name: Ricky Malone
Birthdate: 06/10/1974
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Comanche
Conviction date: 06/16/2005
On death row since: 06/20/2005. SCOTUS denied certiorari 10/7/2019.
Ronson Bush

Name: Ronson Bush
Birthdate: 05/15/1977
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Grady
Conviction date: 10/29/2009
On death row since: 11/13/2009. Click here to read more. His execution is set for Sept. 5, 2024.
Termane Wood

Name: Termane Wood
Birthdate: 10/09/1979
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 05/07/2004
On death row since: 05/17/2004. He has exhausted his appeals. His execution is set for Feb. 8, 2024.
Wendell Grissom

Name: Wendell Grissom
Birthdate: 10/11/1968
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Blaine
Conviction date: 06/17/2008
On death row since: 06/30/2008. His execution is set for Jan. 11, 2024.
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