Oklahoma County convicted killer Emmanuel A. Littlejohn on Wednesday is expected to ask the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board to recommend clemency. (Getty Images) (This image cannot be republished unless you have a Getty subscription.)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma County convicted killer Emmanuel A. Littlejohn on Wednesday is expected to ask the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board to recommend clemency.
Littlejohn, 52, is set to die Sept. 26 for the 1992 shooting death of Kenny Meers, 31, during a convenience store robbery.
“Emmanuel Littlejohn is a violent and manipulative criminal who refuses to take responsibility for his actions,” said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. “The family of Kenny Meers has waited 32 long years for justice to be served. The death penalty is the appropriate punishment, and I urge the Pardon and Parole Board to ensure that justice is done.”
If the five-member board recommends clemency, Gov. Kevin Stitt would have the final word.
Kenny Meers and his brother co-owned the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in southeast Oklahoma City. Meers had worked there since he was 13 and was also the manager.
Littlejohn was just out of prison for burglary, robbery and assault, according to the state’s clemency packet. He and Glenn Bethany were selling drugs, according to the packet.
They owed their dealer and decided to rob a convenience store to obtain cash to repay the debt, according to the state’s clemency packet.
Two witnesses said it was Littlejohn who had the gun, according to the packet.
The pair were leaving the store with cash when Meers walked out of the backroom with a broom, according to the clemency packet.
Meers sustained a gunshot wound to his face and died.
Littlejohn and Bethany parted ways. Littlejohn was later apprehended in Wichita, Kansas, according to the packet.
Littlejohn’s original jury and a resentencing jury found him culpable for the murder and determined the death penalty was appropriate, according to the packet.
Bethany, 58, received life without parole.
“All things considered, Littlejohn is a volatile and exceedingly dangerous individual, one who learned to communicate with violence and simply take what he wants by force – whether it be cars, personal property, drugs, money, or sexual gratification,” prosecutors wrote in the clemency packet.
Meers’ late mother, Delores Meers, wrote in a letter that was provided to the Pardon and Parole Board that she didn’t talk much about Kenny.
“I guess I just want to hold all my memories inside just to hold onto as much of him as I can,” she wrote.
She told the board that she still needed her son.
“We talked about everything,” she wrote. “It just isn’t right for a child to go before a parent.”
In their clemency packet, defense attorneys said Littlejohn was 20 years old at the time of the crime and deeply regrets his actions. “At the time of the robbery of the Root-N-Scoot, Manuel’s 20-year-old brain was still developing in crucial areas and, given his disadvantaged childhood including frequent exposure to violence and drugs, his brain was already vulnerable and less developed than the typical 20-year-old’s,” the defense team wrote.
He has consistently denied being the shooter, according to the clemency packet.
Defense attorneys wrote about his troubled childhood and current medical conditions. He suffered a stroke in 2023 that had lasting impacts. He relies on a wheelchair to travel any distance longer than a hallway or two, according to his clemency packet.
Defense attorneys also said his two juries were confused about the sentencing options and voted for death because other options might mean he could someday be freed.
“At the time of the crime, the Oklahoma County District Attorney was well-known for pursuing the death penalty in almost every murder case, especially those involving defendants of color, rather than narrowing and applying discretion,” the defense attorneys wrote.
They described Littlejohn as a loving father, grandfather and son who connects with his family through phone calls, letters, drawings and personal visits.
“Manuel will never live outside prison walls,” they wrote. “He will spend the rest of his life struggling with his deteriorating health and waking each day full of regret and remorse for his past actions.”
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