Jailhouse Interview: Oklahoma Death Row Inmate Says Triggerman Was Accomplice in 1992 Robbery, Fights for Clemency

An Oklahoma man is set to be the next inmate executed in the state, but a group called Death Penalty Action is fighting to halt that execution.

Emmanuel Littlejohn is scheduled to be executed on September 26, 2024.

Littlejohn has spent the past 30 years on death row after being sentenced to the death penalty in connection with the shooting death of convenience store manager Kenneth Meers in 1992, KFOR reported.

Meers was working at the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in Oklahoma City when he was shot during a robbery gone wrong, authorities said.

Littlejohn recently spoke by phone from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, saying it was his accomplice, Glenn Bethany, who pulled the trigger.

“The next thing you know, Mr. Meers (was) comin’ down the aisle with something in his hand that looked like a gun,” said Littlejohn. “So I take off running and go out the door. The next thing I know, I hear a shot.”

Littlejohn claims he was outside of the store when the gun went off, running to get across the street.

He said, “I thought somebody was shooting at me, but it was Bethany shooting off inside the store.”

Both Littlejohn and Bethany were arrested and charged with murder in the case.

Bethany was found guilty and received a life sentence without parole. However, Littlejohn was found guilty and given the death penalty. He has appealed his case, but as of 2018, he exhausted all of his appeal options.

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Littlejohn now has Death Penalty Action fighting for him, as they try to get him clemency stating witness testimony backs up what Littlejohn is saying.

“We have evidence that points to Glenn Bethany as the shooter,” said Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, with Death Penalty Action. “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.”

While the group is pushing for Governor Kevin Stitt and Attorney General Gentner Drummond to halt the execution, that may not be the case.

In a statement to KFOR, Drummond said, “Emmanuel Littlejohn is a remorseless killer unworthy of the public’s sympathy and undeserving of clemency. Littlejohn was convicted by a jury of his peers, and that conviction has been upheld by multiple state and federal courts. He deserves to be executed for the heartless murder of Kenny Meers, and my office will do everything in its power to ensure justice is served.”

A clemency hearing for Littlejohn has been scheduled for August 7, 2024, officials said.