Thursday, January 27th 2022, 10:29 am
The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty stood outside the governor's mansion fighting against the execution for death row inmate Donald Grant.
They said Grant suffered from several mental disorders, including paranoid schizophrenia, and rather than the death penalty he should've received mental health help.
While this is the first execution of 2022, others are scheduled for months to come, but this group said they believe their message is being heard throughout Oklahoma.
"I think especially with the execution threat of Julius Jones and some of the executions since then, a lot more people are thinking about it, and more juries are calling for life without parole," said Nathaniel Batchelder with the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
The group said they will be outside the mansion again for the next scheduled execution expected in February.
An Oklahoma native, Tevis Hillis joined the News 9 team in 2020 as a multimedia journalist. She now anchors the weekend morning newscasts. Passionate about shaping the future of journalism, Tevis also serves as executive producer and adjunct professor for OU Nightly, mentoring and teaching more than 160 students.
January 27th, 2022