John Grant executed for murder of prison worker a month before fellow death row inmate Julius Jones is scheduled to die
DEATH row inmate John Grant was put to death by lethal injection on Thursday evening, local reports say.
The US Supreme Court had vacated a lower court ruling that initially granted stays of execution for Grant and fellow Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones.
Two hours before Grant died, the Supreme Court voted in a 5-3 decision to lift the the stays .
Because of the high court's ruling, Grant's execution, at 4.21pm local time, went ahead as scheduled at the state penitentiary in McAlester, reported.
The application "to vacate the stays of execution" was presented to Justice Brett Kavanaugh and they were granted, according to the .
Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan denied the application.
"The Department of Corrections has addressed concerns regarding carrying out the death penalty and is prepared to follow the will of the people of Oklahoma, as expressed in state statute, and the orders of the courts by carrying out the execution of inmates sentenced to death by a jury of their peers," said Director Scott Crow.
The department also discussed its lethal cocktail as an "approved three drug protocol" that they claimed "has proven humane and effective."
Back then, the 19-year-old student's promising future at University of Oklahoma came to a halt when he became the prime suspect in the slaying of 45-year-old businessman Paul Howell.
Jones' case has gained critical mass by many protesting that he's actually innocent and should be freed.
Nearly in his support and hundreds have participated in marches calling for his freedom.
Prosecutors accused Jones and a cohort named Christopher Jordan as hatching a plan to steal a Cheverolet Suburban.
The pair parked in the Braum’s parking lot and waited.
“We start running up the driveway, and I remember hearing a gunshot, and I remember not wanting to look back,” the late man's daughter Rachel Howell told the television station.
“As we were running to the house, he shot at us. He yelled ‘Stop!’ and he shot at us, but we never turned around,” her sister, Megan Howell told the station.
“We kept running.”
Megan recalled testifying at the trial and being pressed about their father's killers' descriptions.
She then received a letter from Jones and it scared her.
“His stocking cap was so tight on his head, I know I would’ve seen the corn rows underneath because the top of his hat was smooth,” she said.
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Jones did not have cornrows, but Jordan did.
“He wanted me to point the finger at Christopher Jordan,” Megan said.
“That’s why he sent the pictures, and he wanted me to say it wasn’t him.”
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