MCALESTER, Okla. — UPDATE, 10/29/21, 11:15 a.m.: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and the daughter of Gay Carter, have issued statements.
“When I took the oath of office as Governor, I swore to support, obey, and defend the laws and Constitution of the State of Oklahoma, including Section 9A of Article 2 which was added in 2016 by the people of Oklahoma. Today, the Department of Corrections carried out the law of the State of Oklahoma and delivered justice to Gay Carter’s family.” – Gov. Kevin Stitt
“At least now we are starting to get justice for our loved ones. The death penalty is about protecting any potential future victims. Even after Grant was removed from society, he committed an act of violence that took an innocent life. I pray that justice prevails for the other victims’ loved ones. My heart and prayers go out to you all. Stay Strong” – Paula Carter
Oklahoma executed its first prisoner in six years Thursday, putting John Marion Grant to death by lethal injection for the 1998 slaying of a prison cafeteria worker.
Grant, 60, was declared dead at 4:21 p.m. CDT, KOKI-TV reported. The execution took place inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, The Oklahoman reported.
Grant was strapped to a gurney and began convulsing and vomiting before dying, The Associated Press reported. Grant had his reaction after the first drug, the sedative midazolam, was administered, according to the news organization.
John Grant, 60, has died, an Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesman just told reporters. Time of death: 4:21 p.m. CT.
— Kassie McClung (@KassieMcClung) October 28, 2021
Grant is the first person to be executed in Oklahoma in nearly seven years.
We’re waiting to hear from reporters who witnessed Grant’s execution.
Two members of the execution team wiped the vomit from his face and neck, the AP reported. Before the curtain rose for witnesses to view the execution, Grant could be heard yelling, “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” He delivered a stream of profanities before the lethal injection started and became unconscious about 15 minutes after the first of three lethal drugs were administered, according to the AP.
Grant died six minutes later.
Grant was serving time in prison for armed robbery on Nov. 13, 1998, when he fatally stabbed Gay Carter, 58, with a sharpened screwdriver in a kitchen at the Dick Conner Correctional Center in Hominy, The Oklahoman reported. Witnesses said Grant dragged the woman into a mop closet and stabbed her 16 times, according to the AP. He was sentenced to die in 1999.
“At least now we are starting to get justice for our loved ones,” Carter’s daughter, Pamela Gay Carter, said in a statement. “The death penalty is about protecting any potential future victims. Even after Grant was removed from society, he committed an act of violence that took an innocent life. I pray that justice prevails for all the other victims’ loved ones. My heart and prayers go out to you all.”
Oklahoma’s last scheduled execution was Sept. 30, 2015. Authorities stopped Richard Glossip’s execution after a doctor discovered the wrong deadly drug, potassium acetate, had been supplied, according to The Oklahoman. Officials said afterward the same mistake had been made in an execution in January 2015.
A state grand jury blamed faulty protocols, failures by corrections officials and a pharmacist’s negligence, the newspaper reported.
Oklahoma proceeded with Thursday’s execution after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-3 decision, lifted stays of execution that were made for Grant and another death row inmate, Julius Jones, by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the AP reported.
Jones was sentenced to death for the 1999 killing of Edmond businessman Paul Howell, KOKI reported. Jones has a clemency hearing scheduled for next week, the television station reported.
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