OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Found “guilty of robbery and murder” of a convenience store owner named Kenneth Meers, ABC News reports here that Emmanuel Littlejohn was arrested in November 1994, and “the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals scheduled Littlejohn’s execution for Sept. 26.”
ABC News reported Littlejohn’s lawyer, Callie Heller, said, “Manuel Littlejohn has extensive brain damage – caused by multiple factors including his teenage mother’s prenatal substance abuse – that significantly affects his executive functioning” and, “His cognitive limitations were exacerbated by the relentless trauma and pervasive neglect of his childhood.
“Manuel’s jury did not know about these aspects of his background, nor were they aware that his co-defendant, who may have been the actual killer, was sentenced to life imprisonment. In light of all available information…Manuel’s death sentence is unfair and excessive.”
The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (OK-CADP) vice-chair, Dr. Elizabeth Overman, said, “To say that the Mr. Littlejohn fell through the cracks in the system is an understatement. This man never had a chance to succeed in this society. Now he sits on the precipice of his own death hastened by the state.
“In this case, Oklahoma is once again culpable for not providing the necessary services and resources to his mother, his grandmother, and his schools. He was allowed to grow up under abusive circumstances. This case is riddled with the results of personal and social deprivation and a state anxious to carry out another execution, even in the face of extenuating circumstances. Implementing the death penalty is wrong.”
Overman charged, “It is one of the signs of an authoritarian state that refuses to examine its own record of botched and unjust executions. This is another unjust execution. The OK-CADP asks the Oklahoma Pardon & Parole Board to vote for clemency for Mr. Littlejohn.”
