Donald Anthony Grant , popularly known as Donald Grant, was an American (Black) man who was convicted of two murders in the year, 2001. He was put to death by lethal injection (despite a lawsuit against the method in America) on 27 January 2022 by the state of Oklahoma. Grant became the first person in America to be executed in 2022 and the third person in Oklahoma to be executed by lethal injection since the method resumed in the state in October 2021 after nearly seven years.
Wiki/Biography
Donald Grant was born in 1976 (age 46 years; as of 2022) in New York City. He grew up at a housing project in New York City during the crack epidemic of the 1980s. Growing up he was frequently beaten, as the members of his family came to know about his heavy alcoholism, drug addiction, and mental illness.
An old picture of Donald Grant
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 8″
Hair Colour: Bald
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Not much is known about his family. His father was an alcoholic.
Girlfriend
Reportedly, Grant was dating a girl in 2001 who was imprisoned in America. He conducted a robbery at a hotel in America in 2001 to collect the bail money for her girlfriend.
Convicted of Murdering Two Hotel Employees
In July 2001, Donald Grant robbed La Quinta Inn in Del City to steal money for his girlfriend’s bail. He was 25 years old at that time. During the robbery, he opened fire on two hotel employees, so that there would be no witnesses to his robbery. Apparently, one of them died instantly, while, Grant used a knife to kill the other one. The two women who were killed by Grant include 29-year-old Brenda McElyea and 43-year-old Felicia Suzette Smith.
Later, he wrote a confession letter for his crime. His letter read,
So I’m sitting in the house cleaning my gun with a kill on my mind for whoever’s is there.”
He was sentenced to death in 2005.
Grant’s Appeal for Clemency
Since Grant was held guilty in the murder case of Brenda McElyea and Felicia Suzette Smith, he has filed various appeals in the Supreme Court of America to have his sentence overturned. Two of his attorneys Susan Otto and Emma Rolls claimed that he suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and brain trauma (caused by his alcoholic father’s violent abuse in the childhood) which made him a suitable candidate for mercy. However, the board denied his appeal after the members of his victim’s families tearfully urged the board to reject clemency for him. One of McElyea’s sister while recalling the pain she experienced when she had to inform her father of McElyea’s murder, said,
I had to call my dad and tell him his daughter, his baby girl, was dead. I had never seen him cry, but that night I heard him weep and it broke my heart.”
Request for an Emergency Stay
Donald Grant had earlier asked the federal judge to grant him a temporary injunction that would delay his execution until a trial can be held over whether Oklahoma’s three-drug lethal injection method is constitutional. He had offered to be killed by firing squad as an alternative, arguing that it would be quicker and less painful.
Stay Denied
Grant’s last appeal for an emergency stay was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court on 26 January 2022. Donald was concerned about the method of execution used by the southern US state of Oklahoma and was afraid of the risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering.
Protesting Grant’s Execution
According to a leading news daily in the U.S., The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (OK CADP) protested outside the governor’s mansion a few hours before his execution on 27 January 2022.
A tweet by Darla Shelden
Execution by Lethal Injection
According to a state corrections spokesman, Donald Grant was pronounced dead at 10:16 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He was executed by lethal injection at around 10 a.m. He fell unconscious at around 10:08 a.m. and subsequently, died at 10:16 a.m. At the time of the execution, 18 witnesses were present there including a few news reporters, prosecutors, a police chief, his victims family members, and his loved ones. A few minutes before his execution, Grant was given two minutes to deliver his final words. He started by saying,
Yo, God, I got this. I’m solid, son. No meds, no nothing. I’m solid.”
He further said,
I’m going to go to the universe, and then I’ll be back. God is here. The true god.”
He at one point began chanting unintelligible. He continued to speak about the seven witnesses who attended the execution on his behalf even after he was told that his two minutes to speak had ended. Soon, a prison staff member in the execution chamber stopped him and cut off the microphone. He kept speaking even after the microphones were turned off. He constantly looked towards his family members present in the witness room and tears started rolling down his face.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Donald’s death marks the 1541st execution in the U.S. since capital punishment was resumed in the U.S. in 1976.
After Grant’s execution, Shirl Pilcher, a sister of McElyea, while talking to the reporters said that she and her family were happy that justice have been served. She said,
Although Donald Grant’s execution does not bring Brenda back, it allows us all to finally move forward knowing that justice was served.”