When the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 against clemency for John Grant last week, it cleared the way for the state to resume executions for the first time since 2015. The 60-year-old Grant is scheduled to be executed on October 28.
He has been on death row since 2000 for the 1998 killing of Gay Carter, an Oklahoma corrections center employee. Carter had been serving time for armed robbery at the time of the murder.
If Grant is executed, he will be the first of seven men scheduled to be executed over the next six months. Among the seven is Julius Jones, whose execution is scheduled for November 18. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, in a 3-1 vote, has recommended that Gov. Kevin Stitt commute his sentence to life in prison. Stitt has said he won’t decide or comment on the case until after Jones’ clemency hearing on October 26.
Oklahoma currently has 44 prisoners on death row.