Donald Anthony Grant, commonly known as Donald Grant, is an American (black) man who was convicted of two murders in 2001. On January 27, he was executed by lethal injection (despite a U.S. lawsuit over the method). Oklahoma State is in charge in 2022. Grant became the first person to be executed in the United States in 2022 and the third person to be executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma after nearly seven years since it resumed executions in October 2021.
Wiki/Biography
Donald Grant was born in New York City in 1976 (died at age 46). He grew up in a New York City housing project during the drug epidemic of the 1980s. Growing up, he was frequently beaten when his family learned that he was an alcoholic, drug addict, and mentally ill.
old photos of donald grant
One of his relatives revealed in an interview with a news reporter that Donald’s life was very miserable. He said,
The refrigerator was locked when he was 8 years old, his grandmother only fed the girls, and the boys basically had to steal food from the streets. “
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′8″
Hair color: Bald
Eye color: black
family
Little is known about his family. His father is an alcoholic.
girlfriend
In 2001, Grant reportedly dated a girl who was in prison in the United States. In 2001, he committed a robbery at a hotel in the United States to collect bail money for his girlfriend.
Convicted of murdering two hotel workers
In July 2001, Donald Grant robbed the La Quinta Inn in Del City to steal money for his girlfriend’s bail. He was 25 years old at the time. During the robbery, he shot two hotel employees to prevent witnesses from witnessing his robbery. Apparently, one of them died at the scene, while Grant killed the other with a knife. The two women Grant killed were 29-year-old Brenda McEllea and 43-year-old Felicia Suzette Smith.
He later wrote a confession for his crimes. His letter stated:
So I sat in the house cleaning the gun and thinking about killing whoever was there. “
In 2005, he was sentenced to death.
Grant pleads for clemency
Since Grant was convicted in the murders of Brenda McElia and Felicia Suzette Smith, he has filed various appeals with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn his conviction. Two of his lawyers, Susan Otto and Emma Rolls, claim he suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and traumatic brain injury caused by violent childhood abuse by his alcoholic father ), which makes him a suitable candidate for mercy. Citing the issue of the execution of John Grant in October 2021, Donald asked for clemency and sought a delay in his execution. John Grant reportedly performed various actions after being injected with midazolam, the first pharmaceutical sedative. His actions have been described as violent. He had convulsions and vomited multiple times. However, the victim’s family tearfully urged the committee to deny him clemency. One of McEllia’s sisters recalled the pain she went through when she had to tell her father about McEllia’s murder.
I had to call my dad and tell him that his daughter, his little girl, died. I had never seen him cry, but I heard him cry that night and it broke my heart. “
November 2021 hearing
During a pardon hearing in November 2021, Donald Grant admitted to killing Felicia Suzette Smith and Brenda McElia. He said he killed them because he didn’t want to leave any witnesses to his robberies in Del City. He expressed deep and sincere remorse and said he was sorry for his actions before the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Paroles. He blamed the devil for the 2001 killings. He said,
First and foremost…I would like to express…my sincere deep regret and remorse for my actions. I know words can’t bring them back. I see. …I can’t change that. You know, I wish I could do that. “
Later, the victim’s attorney told the committee that Donald Grant shot INN manager Brenda McEllea as she begged for her life. They further revealed that he shot front desk clerk Suzette Smith three times in the face. Grant then slit Smith’s throat and beat her over the head with a computer monitor, a video recorder and a gun. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board rejected Grant’s clemency appeal (voting 4-1), setting aside concerns about a final execution and scheduling Grant’s execution by lethal injection for January 27, 2022.
Donald Grant at Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board hearing
Request an emergency stop
Donald Grant earlier asked a federal judge to grant him a temporary injunction delaying his execution until a trial on the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s three-drug lethal injection method. He had pleaded with the U.S. Supreme Court to execute him by firing squad, arguing it would be quicker and less painful.
Grant joins other Oklahoma death row inmates who have questioned the use of the sedative midazolam during executions. They claim the drug is unsuitable for lethal injection and cite examples of its use in several questionable executions.
refuse to stay
Grant’s last appeal for an emergency stay was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 26, 2022. Donald was concerned about the execution methods used in the southern US state of Oklahoma and worried about the risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering.
Protest against Grant’s execution
The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (OK CADP) staged a protest outside the governor’s mansion hours before the execution on January 27, 2022, a major US news daily reported.
Darla Shelden tweets
lethal injection
Donald Grant was pronounced dead at 10:16 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, according to a state corrections spokesman. He was administered a lethal injection at about 10 a.m., fell unconscious at about 10:08 a.m., and died at 10:16 a.m. During the execution, 18 witnesses were present, including several journalists, prosecutors, a police chief, the victim’s family and his relatives. Minutes before execution, Grant was given two minutes to deliver his final words. He said at the beginning,
Yo, God, I get it. I’m strong, son. No drugs, nothing. I’m very grounded. “
He further said,
I’m going to the universe and then I’ll be back. God is here. True God. “
At one point he began shouting incomprehensible slogans. Even after he was told his two-minute speech was over, he continued to talk about the seven witnesses who represented him at the execution. Soon, a prison employee in the cell stopped him and cut off the microphone. He continued to speak even after the microphone was turned off. He kept looking at the family in the witness room, tears rolling down his face.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Donald’s death marked the 1,541st execution in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Speaking to reporters after Grant’s execution, McEllea’s sister Hill Pilcher said she and her family were glad justice had been served. She said,
Although Donald Grant’s execution did not bring Brenda back, it allowed us all to finally move forward knowing that justice had been served. Our memories will hopefully no longer be clouded and jaded by the past. For me, whenever I think about her, I always have to go back to, ‘Is he going out?’ Will anything change? Now, today I know it is finally over. “
She added,
I wish now… when I think of her, I can directly recall that memory, whether it was (Brenda) being there when I first brought my daughter home from the hospital. Hopefully these types of memories will surface and I won’t have to look back to remember her memory instead of her death. “
grant’s last meal
On the evening of January 26, 2022, Donald Grant requested a feast (his last meal). The menu includes sesame chicken, six egg rolls, shrimp fried rice and a big apple fritter. He said if there was no dessert, he would like three pints of strawberry ice cream.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education