Death row in Oklahoma: AG seeks adjustments to execution schedule in 2024
Six convicted murderers due to be executed would be impacted: Richard Norman Rojem, Emmanuel Littlejohn, Kevin Ray Underwood, Wendell Arden Grissom, Tremane Wood and Kendrick Antonio Simpson.
The request "will allow ODOC to carry out the court-ordered warrants within a timeframe that will minimize the disruptions to normal operations," the agency's director said. The 90-day interval "also protects our team’s mental health and allows time for them to process and recover between the scheduled executions.”
Early last year, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals granted Attorney General Gentner Drummond's request to space out six executions approximately 60 days apart. Since that time, the state has executed three of the affected death row inmates.
One of the executions was stayed pending a competency hearing, and two others — Michael DeWayne Smith and Wade Greely Lay — are scheduled for later this year.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Gov. Kevin Stitt granted clemency in his case just before Wood's scheduled execution on Nov. 13, 2025.
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 June 27.
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 was executed 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.
Latest story: Judges enters stay of execution for Wade Lay, killer of Tulsa bank guard
Wade Lay's appeal among denials for four Oklahoma death row inmates
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. A stay has been granted in his execution.
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.
Read more: Appeal rejected in 1999 murder of retired Tulsa banker Mary Bowles
Federal inmate set for state execution denied transfer to Oklahoma custody
Oklahoma corrections director on execution: 'Not pleasant to watch, but ... not inhumane'
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 was set to be executed May 18, 2023, before a Supreme Court stay was put in place.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted Jones' sentence to life without the possibility of parole.