Oklahoma: A man convicted of carrying out a double murder was put to death by lethal injection Thursday in Oklahoma, becoming the first prisoner executed in the United States this year.
Donald Grant, 46, gave a disjointed final statement before being cutoff as Oklahoma prison officials carried out America’s first execution in 2022 on Thursday at the state’s maximum prison in McAlester. Oklahoma prisons director Scott Crow said Grant was declared dead at 10:16 a.m. Thursday.
Grant received the death sentence for admittedly killing two Del City hotel workers in a 2001 robbery. Prosecutors said hotel manager Brenda McElyea and desk clerk Suzette Smith begged for their lives before Grant killed them.
Shirl Filcher, McElyea’s sister said the family can now move forward and will cherish fond memories of Brenda.
The 46-year-old’s last words were barely intelligible.
In 2001, Grant, then aged 25, robbed a hotel to steal bail money for his imprisoned girlfriend.
During the robbery, he opened fire on two hotel employees. One died instantly, and the other Grant finished off with a knife, according to court documents.
He was sentenced to death in 2005.
