(Washington) Two death row inmates were executed Thursday, one in Oklahoma by lethal injection and another in Alabama, in the southern United States, by nitrogen inhalation, a process used for only the second time in the world .
This brings the number of executions carried out in the United States to 18 in 2024, including five in less than a week.
Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma for the murder of Kenneth Meers during the robbery of a convenience store in 1992, although he always denied being the author of the fatal shot.
“Justice has been served for the murder of Kenny Meers,” state Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement, saying the victim’s family had “waited 32 long years.”
Emmanuel Littlejohn and his accomplice during this robbery, Glenn Bethany, mutually blamed each other for the murder.
Both were convicted of murder, but his accomplice was sentenced to life in prison without parole and he was sentenced to death.
In August, the state pardon board recommended a commutation of Emmanuel Littlejohn’s sentence, despite opposition from some of the victim’s family.
His last appeals having been exhausted, the fate of the condemned man was entirely in the hands of the Republican governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, who exercised his power of pardon only once.
“Mr. Governor, don’t kill me just for form’s sake,” implored the condemned man in a final interview on Wednesday, broadcast by public radio NPR.
Nitrogen inhalation
Alan Miller, sentenced to death in Alabama for the 1999 murder of three colleagues, Lee Holdbrooks, Scott Yancy and Terry Lee Jarvis, was executed at Atmore Penitentiary by nitrogen inhalation.
He was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m., according to a statement from Alabama authorities.
This method of execution was used for the first time in the world in this state in January, on Kenneth Smith, and denounced by the UN which compared it to a form of “torture”.
Republican Governor Kay Ivey had announced in advance that she would not exercise her pardon power.
A previous attempt to execute Alan Miller by lethal injection in September 2022 was canceled at the last minute, due to difficulties in providing him with intravenous drips to inject him with the lethal solution within the legally allotted time.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 American states. Six others (Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee) observe a moratorium on executions by decision of the governor.