TULSA, Okla. — Oklahoma executed its second inmate of the year on Thursday, July 20.
Jemaine Cannon was on death row for the 1995 murder of Sharonda Clark in her Tulsa apartment.
Cannon is convicted of stabbing the 20-year-old mother several times in the throat and chest.
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At the time of the murder, Cannon had escaped from a Department of Corrections community work center while serving a 15-year sentence for severely beating an 18-year-old woman in 1990.
He maintained that the murder was self-defense until the end.
The execution began at 10 a.m.
2 News' Erin Christy was invited to attend the execution and reported Cannon's last words as, “Yes, I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. Therefore, I am saved. Thank you.”
The victim's family spoke after the execution at a press conference and said they can finally breathe easier.
Clark's daughter said Cannon's last words were selfish and they didn't expect an apology after not getting one in 23 years.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond released this statement about the execution:
“Justice was finally served this morning for Sharonda Clark with the execution of her murderer. My hope is that today’s action can bring some measure of peace for Sharonda’s two daughters, as well as her other family members and friends who loved her.”
The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty released said this:
Today, July 20, Jemaine Cannon was executed by the state of Oklahoma. On death row since 1996, Cannon, who was emotionally and physically abused by both his mother and father, was no longer a threat to society.
In response to the needless execution of Jemaine Cannon, Rev. Don Heath, Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty chair, made the following statement:
“Jemaine Cannon was nearly blind and nearly deaf and was likely to die in less than a year of an auto-immune disease. Executing a sick and dying man is not justice. It is cruelty.”
This is the second execution of 2023 for Oklahoma. Scott Eizember was executed on Jan. 12.
Canon's last words were no comfort to the victim's family. They say he never showed remorse or apologized for what he did.
"The reaction we got through those last words were they were selfish," said Yeh-Shen White-Hicks, the victim's daughter. "Unfortunately, my mom didn't not get the opportunity for good-byes, to read lips, to give a thumbs up. His death was peaceful for him."
The next scheduled execution is for Anthony Sanchez on September 21. Sanchez was convicted in the 1996 murder of Juli Busken, who was studying ballet at the University of Oklahoma at the time of her death.
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