Oklahoma governor spares the life of death row inmate just before scheduled lethal injection

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has spared the life of a death row inmate just before he was set to receive a lethal injection on Thursday, commuting the man’s sentence to life in prison without parole.

Stitt formally granted clemency to Tremane Wood, 46, who was scheduled to die for the stabbing death of a man during a botched robbery in 2002. It is just the second time the Republican governor has granted clemency during his nearly seven years in office.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — A man who denies stabbing a migrant farmworker to death during a 2002 robbery was scheduled for execution Thursday in Oklahoma. A state panel recommended that his life be spared.

Tremane Wood, 46, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. The Pardon and Parole Board issued an uncommon clemency recommendation last week. If Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt takes no action, Wood’s execution is expected to proceed at 10 a.m.

“I’m not a monster. I’m not a killer,” Wood told the board via a video link from prison. “I never was, and I never have been.”

Wood’s execution was one of three scheduled this week in the U.S.

Stitt, who has served two terms and cannot run for reelection in 2026, has only granted clemency once during his nearly seven years as governor.

A spokesperson for his office said he planned to meet with prosecutors, defense attorneys and members of the victim’s family before making a decision.

Wood was sentenced to die for his role in the stabbing death of Ronnie Wipf, a 19-year-old migrant farmworker from Montana, during a botched robbery attempt at a north Oklahoma City hotel on New Year’s Day 2002.

Wood’s attorneys have not denied that he participated in the robbery but maintain that his brother, Zjaiton Wood, was the one who stabbed Wipf. Zjaiton Wood was sentenced to life without parole and died in prison in 2019 after admitting to several people that he killed Wipf, said Tremane Wood’s attorney, Amanda Bass Castro Alves.

Wood’s attorneys also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution, but the court denied that request early Thursday. His attorneys had argued, among other things, that trial prosecutors didn’t properly reveal details of a plea agreement with a key witness.

Prosecutors have painted Wood as a dangerous criminal who has continued to participate in gang activity and commit crimes while incarcerated, including buying and selling drugs, using contraband cellphones and ordering attacks on other people in the prison.

“Even within the confines of maximum security prison, Tremane Wood has continued to manipulate, exploit and harm others,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond said.

During his testimony last week, Wood accepted responsibility for his prison misconduct and his participation in the robbery, but reiterated that he was not the one who killed Wipf.

“I regret my role in everything that happened that night,” he said.

In Florida, Bryan Frederick Jennings was scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday. In South Carolina, Stephen Bryant was scheduled to die by firing squad on Friday.

A total of 41 people have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and at least 18, including Wood, Jennings and Bryant, were scheduled to be put to death during the remainder of 2025 and next year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.