Man who killed two hotel staff in 2001 robbery executed after last meal of fried rice, chicken
A man who killed two female hotel workers in 2001 robbery has been put to death by injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, United States of America.
For his last meal, he asked for six egg rolls, sesame chicken and shrimp fried rice and a large apple fritter or three pints of strawberry ice cream.
Donald Grant killed Brenda McElyea, 29, and Felicia Suzette Smith, 43 in July of 2001 so that there would be no witnesses to his robbery of the hotel where they worked.
Before the lethal injection was administered, Grant said: ‘First and foremost, I’d like to express my sincere deep regrets and remorse for my actions.’ He blamed the devil for his actions.
‘I know words can’t bring them back. I understand… I can’t change that. You know, I wish I could and everything.’
Then, he said: ‘Yo, God, I got this,’ as he lay strapped to the gurney. ‘No medication. I didn’t take nothing. Brooklyn for life.’
It was the country’s first execution this year, and the third in Oklahoma since the state resumed lethal injections in October following a nearly seven-year hiatus.
Grant was declared dead at 10:16 am on Thursday.
Before the injection, the condemned man had two minutes to speak, but Grant continued to speak after he was told the two minutes to deliver his last words had ended and the microphone inside the execution chamber was turned off.
The execution was witnessed by about 18 witnesses including, members of the press.
After injection was first administered at 10.03 am, witnesses said that Grant mouthed the words ‘hold it down, hold the fort down, I’ll be back’ to his family members.
A few minutes later at 10.06am, Grant’s eyelids began to droop and he appeared to be sleeping. After a doctor entered the room to conduct a consciousness check, rubbing his sternum and calling his name, Grant could be heard snoring as a prison official declared him unconscious at 10:09am. He appeared to stop breathing about two minutes later.
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor later said in a statement ‘The State’s execution of Donald Grant was carried out with zero complications at 10:16 this morning. Justice is now served for Brenda McElyea, Felecia Suzette Smith, and the people of Oklahoma.’
Shirl Filcher, sister of one of the victims, McElyea, said her family felt that justice had been served.
‘Although Donald Grant’s execution does not bring Brenda back, it allows us all to finally move forward knowing justice was served,’ Filcher said after witnessing his execution. ‘There was a time that there was doubt that justice would ever be served, and now there is none.’
“Today marks 20 years, six months, nine days and just minutes since Brenda McElyea was taken from this world by Donald Grant, but today, justice was served,” Filcher said.
‘Brenda’s father Walter McElyea’s dying wish was for justice to be served, and although he did not live to see it, I know he is rejoicing today.’
‘[Now] we can move forward, and the memories of the murder, the trial and the years spent waiting can be replaced with happier memories of Brenda, memories of her laughter, her smile, her wit, her charm and her loving heart. I, for one, am ready to remember the beauty of my sister instead of reliving the brutality of her death.’
The condemned man had fought his sentence. He had asked a federal judge to temporarily halt his execution, arguing that he should be reinstated as a plaintiff in a separate lawsuit challenging Oklahoma´s three-drug lethal injection protocol as presenting a risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering.
But both a federal judge and a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver previously denied that request. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Grant´s request on Wednesday.
