The First Man Executed After Oklahoma’s 6-Year Death Penalty Ban – The Botched Death of John Grant..

 The First Man Executed After Oklahoma’s 6-Year Death Penalty Ban – The Botched Death of John Grant..

with breaking news. >> And we are following that breaking news here at 4:00. It is certainly the big story of the day. John Grant scheduled to be put to death here at 400 p.m. after the [music] Supreme Court rules to overturn a state of execution. I’m Brian Dorman >> and I’m Shannon Russo. The Supreme Court’s decision came [music] in around 2 this afternoon, just 2 hours ago, paving the way now for the state’s [music] first execution nearly 7 years.

>> It appeared like he was drowning in his own vomit. That’s what John Grant’s lawyer said as she watched him die on October 28th, 2021. Jon started convulsing 7 minutes after the lethal injection began. His body jerked violently on the gurnie. Then he started vomiting. The execution team had to wipe vomit off his face while he was still alive.

 Witnesses said his back arched off the table. He gasped for air. He struggled to breathe for over 6 minutes. The autopsy later confirmed what everyone saw. John’s lungs were three times heavier than normal. They were filled with fluid. He experienced what doctors call flash pulmonary edema. In simple terms, John Grant drowned in his own bodily fluids while strapped to a gurnie.

 But here’s the part that makes this case so controversial. John was a convicted murderer. He killed a prison cafeteria worker named Gay Carter in 1998. He stabbed her 16 times with a homemade shank. He absolutely deserved to be punished. But did he deserve to drown to death? Oklahoma officials said the execution went smoothly. They said Jon just snored lightly and died peacefully.

 The reporters who watched it happen said that’s a lie. The autopsy proved the reporters were right. So what really happened during John Grant’s execution? and why did Oklahoma resume the death penalty after a six-year ban only to botch another execution? Before we dive into this dark story, please hit that like button and subscribe to True Crime Matter.

 This case gets even more disturbing when you learn about J’s childhood and the two other botched executions that happened before his. You won’t want to miss what comes next. November 13th, 1998. Dick Connor Correctional Center in Homony, Oklahoma. John Marian Grant was 37 years old and serving a 130year sentence for four armed robbery convictions.

 He’d been locked up since December 30th, 1980 when he was just 19 years old. John had spent 10 years in prison at this point, almost two decades behind bars. He knew how prison worked. He knew the rules. He knew the staff. One staff member in particular, Gay Carter, worked in the prison cafeteria. She served food to inmates during meal times.

 Jon had worked in that same kitchen years earlier. He’d lost his job after getting into a fight with another inmate. Now he was just another prisoner getting his meals from a tray slot. On the morning of November 13th, Jon and Gay got into an argument over his breakfast tray. Two inmates who worked in the dining area overheard the argument.

 They heard Jon threatening Gay. This wasn’t the first time. The day before, November 12th, Jon and Gay had argued over his breakfast tray. Then, too, Jon had made threats during that argument as well. The two inmates who worked in the kitchen knew something was wrong. Jon was agitated. He was angry. He kept making threats.

 After the argument on November 13th, those same two inmates saw Jon loitering near a storage closet. The closet contained cleaning supplies and was located near where Gay worked. Jon stood there waiting. [clears throat] A few minutes later, Gay walked past the storage closet. Jon grabbed her and pulled her inside.

 The door slammed shut. Inside that closet, Jon pulled out a prison-made shank. It was a weapon he’d crafted himself, sharpened to a point, designed to kill. He stabbed Gay Carter in the chest. She screamed. She tried to fight back. She tried to get away. Jon kept stabbing. He stabbed her 16 times. One of those stab wounds punctured Gay’s aorta.

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 Blood poured from the wound. Her body went into shock from the rapid blood loss. A correctional officer heard the commotion and ran to the storage closet. He opened the door and found Jon standing over Gay’s body. Jon saw the officer and ran. >> [clears throat] >> He still had the shank in his hand. As he fled, Jon tried to stab himself with the weapon.

 He [clears throat] wanted to kill himself rather than face the consequences. Prison officials tackled him and subdued him before he could inflict serious damage. Meanwhile, medical personnel rushed to help Gay Carter. She had stopped breathing. They performed CPR. They tried to stop the bleeding. It was too late. Gay was transported to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The cause of death was 16 stab wounds. The fatal wound was the one that punctured her aorta, causing rapid blood loss and death. Gay Carter was 58 years old. She’d worked at the prison for years. She was just doing her job serving breakfast to inmates when John Grant murdered her. Jon was immediately placed in solitary confinement.

 He was charged with first-degree murder. On May 8th, 2000, John Grant was convicted of murdering Gay Carter. The jury sentenced him to death. Jon was sent to death row to await his execution. To understand how John Grant became a killer, you need to go back to the beginning. John Marian Grant was born on April 12th, 1961 in Ada, Oklahoma.

 He was one of nine children. His father was not present during his childhood. He abandoned the family early on. John’s mother was an alcoholic mother. She was neglectful and physically abusive to her children. The [clears throat] family lived in abject poverty. Their home had a dirt floor. There was no running water. Nine children crammed into a house with no basic utilities.

 When Jon was an infant, his mother couldn’t or wouldn’t care for him. His six-year-old sister essentially raised him. A child raising a baby. Jon and his siblings didn’t have enough food. They wore dirty, torn clothes. They had no stable adult supervision. As a child, John started stealing to provide for his siblings. He stole food.

He stole clothes. He stole whatever he could to help his brothers and sisters survive. By the time John was 11 or 12 years old, he was sent to prison for the first time. A child locked up in Oklahoma’s juvenile justice system. at the time, but [clears throat] Oklahoma’s juvenile justice system was among the worst in the country.

 There were widespread abuses, physical violence, sexual abuse, torture. A 1981 report from the television program 2020 chronicled the horrific conditions in Oklahoma’s juvenile facilities. Children were beaten. They [clears throat] were sexually assaulted. They were tortured by staff and other inmates. John experienced this system firsthand.

By age 15, Jon lost contact with his family completely. He had no mother, no father, no siblings. He was alone in the world, bouncing between prisons and jails. As a teenager and young adult, Jon served multiple sentences. He was in and out of prison constantly. A psychiatrist named Dr. Donna Schwarz Watts evaluated Jon years later.

 She diagnosed him with reactive attachment disorder, a condition caused by severe childhood trauma and neglect. Children with this disorder struggle to form healthy relationships. They have difficulty trusting people. They often become violent and impulsive. John’s entire childhood was trauma, poverty, abuse, neglect, and a juvenile justice system that tortured him instead of helping him.

 On December 30th, 1980, John was 19 years old when he was sent to prison for four armed robbery convictions. He received a 130year sentence. He would spend the next 18 years behind bars before he murdered Gay Carter. During those 18 years, Jon had worked in the prison kitchen. He knew Gay Carter. They had interacted before when he was employed there, but Jon lost his kitchen job after fighting with another inmate.

 After that, he was just another prisoner getting his meals from a tray slot. Something changed in John during those years. Maybe it was the decades of incarceration. Maybe it was the unresolved trauma from his childhood. Maybe it was the knowledge that he would likely die in prison. Whatever the reason, Jon became increasingly violent and unstable.

 When Gay Carter argued with him over his breakfast tray on November 12th and 13th, 1998, something inside Jon snapped. He decided Gay had to die. He made a shank. He waited by the storage closet, and when Gay walked past, he grabbed her and stabbed her 16 times. John Grant murdered a 58-year-old woman over a breakfast tray argument.

After murdering Gay Carter, Jon was charged with first-degree murder. The trial took place in 2000. The prosecution presented overwhelming evidence. They had eyewitnesses who heard Jon threatening Gay. They had the correctional officer who found Jon standing over Gay’s body. They had the murder weapon, the prisonmade shank.

They had the autopsy report showing 16 stab wounds and a punctured aorta. Jon’s defense attorneys tried to present mitigating factors. They brought in Dr. Donna Schwarz Watts to testify about Jon’s traumatic childhood. They described the poverty, the abuse, the neglect. They described the horrors of Oklahoma’s juvenile justice system in the 1970s.

They argued that John’s entire life had been filled with violence and trauma. They argued that he suffered from reactive attachment disorder. The jury listened to all of it. Then they found John Grant guilty of first-degree murder. During the sentencing phase, the prosecution argued that Jon deserved death.

 He had murdered a defenseless woman in cold blood. He stabbed her 16 times. He showed no mercy. The defense argued for life in prison. They said Jon’s traumatic past should be considered. They said he was a product of a broken system. On May 8th, 2000, the jury sentenced John Marian Grant to death. John showed no emotion. He was led back to his cell to await execution.

Gay Carter’s family was relieved. They believed justice had been served. Gay’s daughter, Pam Carter, spoke to reporters after the sentencing. She said her mother was a kind, hard-working woman who didn’t deserve to die. Jon was sent to death row at Oklahoma State Penitentiary. He would spend the next 21 years there filing appeals and waiting for his execution date.

 While Jon sat on death row, Oklahoma’s execution system fell apart. For years, Oklahoma used lethal injection to execute death row inmates. The standard protocol involved a three drug cocktail. First, an anesthetic called sodium theopental to render the inmate unconscious. Second, a muscle relaxing to paralyze the body and stop breathing.

 Third, potassium chloride to stop the heart. When done correctly, the process was supposed to be quick and painless. But in the late 2000s, the company that manufactured sodium thopental stopped making it. European manufacturers refused to sell the drug to American states for executions. Oklahoma and other states faced a drug shortage.

 They needed a replacement. Oklahoma decided to use midazzylam, a [clears throat] sedative instead of sodium thopentil. Medazzylam is not an anesthetic. It’s a sedative used to calm patients before surgery. It’s not designed to render someone unconscious during a lethal injection. [clears throat] Medical experts warned that mazzylam might not work properly.

They said inmates might remain conscious and feel pain during the execution. [clears throat] Oklahoma ignored those warnings. On April 29th, 2014, Oklahoma executed a man named Clayton Lockett using Midazzelam for the first time. The execution was a disaster. Witnesses reported that Lockett began twitching and convulsing after the midazzelam was administered.

 He spoke, expressing physical distress. He said he could feel pain. [clears throat] Officials halted the execution, but it was too late. Lockett died of a heart attack 43 minutes after the execution process began. It was supposed to take 10 minutes. Instead, Lockett suffered for 43 minutes before dying. Oklahoma revised their protocol and increased the dosage of mazzelam.

 [clears throat] They claimed this would prevent another botched execution. On January 15th, 2015, Oklahoma executed Charles Frederick Warner using the revised protocol with more midazzelam. Warner’s execution also went wrong. During the process, Warner reportedly said, “It feels like acid.” He said, “My body is on fire.

” The execution took 18 minutes. Warner appeared to be in pain the entire time. Days after Warner’s execution, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments from Oklahoma death row inmates. They argued that Oklahoma’s use of mazzelam violated the eth amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. In June 2015, the Supreme Court ruled 5 and four that Oklahoma could continue using midazzleam.

Oklahoma scheduled another execution for September 2015. A man named Richard Glossup was set to die. But shortly before Glossup’s execution, Oklahoma discovered a major problem. Their drug supplier had sent them potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride. Potassium acetate is not part of the lethal injection protocol.

 Autopsies on Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner revealed that Oklahoma had used potassium acetate during their executions, too. They’d been using the wrong drug the entire time. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallon issued a lastminute stay of execution for Richard Gossip. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Puit indefinitely stayed all executions in the state. He ordered an investigation.

A grand jury reviewed Oklahoma’s entire execution protocol and recommended several revisions. Oklahoma put a moratorium on executions from January 2015 until 2021. Oklahoma did not execute anyone. During those 6 years, death row inmates filed lawsuits challenging Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol.

 In February 2020, Oklahoma announced they were ready to resume executions. They said they had found a reliable supply of drugs. They said they had revised their protocol. The revised protocol still included midazzelam. 32 Oklahoma death row inmates filed a federal lawsuit challenging the new protocol.

 They argued it was still cruel and unusual punishment. 26 of those inmates provided alternative methods of execution. Some agreed to different drug combinations. Others agreed to death by firing squad. Six inmates, including John Grant, refused to provide an alternative method. John refused on religious grounds. He didn’t want to help the state figure out how to kill him.

Because those six inmates refused to provide alternatives, they were dropped from the lawsuit. Once they were dropped, Oklahoma scheduled their executions. John Grant was scheduled to die first. His execution date was set for October 28th, 2021. Jon filed multiple appeals for clemency in the years leading up to his execution.

[clears throat] In 2014, J’s attorneys made a clemency appeal claiming that his murder of Gay Carter was motivated by an alleged romantic relationship between them. Gay Carter’s daughter, Pam, was outraged. She called the allegation heinous. She said, “I lost my mother and now I feel victimized all over again.

” The parole board unanimously rejected the appeal. In early October 2021, just weeks before his execution, Jon made his final appeal. This time, his attorneys focused on his traumatic childhood and his extensive prison history. They argued that Jon had been failed by the system his entire life. They also claimed that Jon had become remorseful for Gay Carter’s murder over the years.

Oklahoma officials countered by pointing out that Jon’s conviction had been upheld by numerous courts. They mentioned a 2005 incident where Jon assaulted a fellow death row inmate who required stitches. They also mentioned two incidents in 2008 and 2009 where Jon threatened correctional officers. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3 to2 to deny clemency.

 John Grant’s execution would proceed as scheduled. October 27th, 2021. John Grant had less than 24 hours to live. He spent his final day on death row writing letters and saying goodbye to the few people who had stayed in contact with him over the years. John requested that two public defenders, Julie Gardner and Megan Lefr, attend his execution as witnesses.

Both women had worked on death penalty cases for years. Julie had witnessed six executions before. Megan had witnessed several as well. John also met with a chaplain. He prayed. He tried to make peace with what was about to happen. For his last meal, Jon didn’t request anything elaborate. He didn’t ask for steak or lobster or anything fancy.

 The records don’t specify exactly what Jon ordered, but whatever it was, he didn’t eat much of it. October 28th, 2021, [clears throat] execution day. At 3:15 p.m., approximately 45 minutes before his scheduled execution, prison officials observed Jon eating and drinking large amounts of potato chips and soda. He was stress eating.

 He knew what was coming. A restraint team took Jon to get a shower. This is standard procedure before an execution. The inmate is cleaned and prepared. After his shower, John was escorted to the execution chamber. He was wearing a prison uniform. [clears throat] His hands were cuffed. Multiple guards surrounded him. Jon didn’t resist.

 He didn’t fight. He cooperated fully. Inside the execution chamber, Jon was strapped to a gurnie. Leather restraint secured his arms, legs, and torso. An IV line was inserted into each arm. These lines would deliver the three drug cocktail that would kill him. Witnesses began entering the viewing room. Gay Carter’s family members were there.

 They wanted to watch Jon die. Julie Gardner and Meghan Leanis, the public defenders Jon had requested, took their seats in the witness area. Reporters from various news organizations were also present, including Shawn Murphy from the Associated Press. Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Scott Crowe was there to oversee the execution.

 An anesthesiologist named Dr. Irvin Yen watched from a separate witness room. He [clears throat] was being paid by Oklahoma to observe and confirm that the execution went smoothly. The curtain separating the execution chamber from the witness room was closed while Jon was being prepared. From behind the curtain, witnesses heard Jon shouting, “Let’s go. Let’s go.

 Let’s go. John wanted to get it over with. He’d spent 21 years on death row. He was ready to die. At 4:00 p.m. PM, the curtain was raised. Witnesses could now see Jon strapped to the gurnie. He shouted a stream of profanities at everyone watching. Then the execution began. The first drug, Medazzelam, started flowing through the IV lines into J’s arms.

 Within seconds, witnesses noticed something was wrong. Jon’s body began convulsing. His muscles twitched. His torso jerked against the restraints. Shawn Murphy, the Associated Press reporter, later described the convulsions as full body and pretty violent. Then about 1 minute after the midazzelam was administered, John started vomiting.

 [clears throat] Vomit poured from his mouth. It ran down his face and neck. He couldn’t move his head because it was strapped down. [clears throat] Two members of the execution team stepped forward and wiped the vomit from J’s face and neck. But Jon kept vomiting, and he kept convulsing. Julie Gardner watched in horror.

 She had seen six executions before, but none like this. She said it looked peaceful at first, but then Jon began struggling to breathe. He was gasping for air. He tried to raise his shoulder from the gurnie. It appeared like he was drowning in his own vomit. Julie later told reporters, Megan Lefrans watched Jon’s back arch off the gurnie.

 She saw him gasping and struggling to breathe. She said Jon’s breathing didn’t calm until more than 6 minutes into the execution process. Shawn Murphy said Jon continued breathing until 1 minute after the second drug began flowing. The second drug was veuronium broomemide, a muscle relaxant designed to paralyze the body and stop breathing.

 The third drug was potassium chloride which stops the heart. Throughout the entire process, John’s body reacted violently. He convulsed. He vomited. He struggled to breathe. At 4:21 p.m., 21 minutes after the first drug was administered, John Marian Grant was pronounced dead. He was 60 years old. The next day, Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Scott Crowe held a press conference.

 He claimed the execution went smoothly. He said Jon had simply snored lightly after receiving the midazzleam. Crow said there were no instances of any unusual behavior throughout the drug protocol other than the regurgitation. He accused reporters of publishing embellished accounts of J’s execution. Dr.

 Irvin Yen, the anesthesiologist who was paid to observe, backed up Crow’s claims. He said the execution occurred without errors and that Jon appeared unconscious and incapable of feeling pain. But the reporters who witnessed the execution knew what they saw. They had watched Jon convulse and vomit and struggled to breathe for over 6 minutes. In February 2022, the results of John’s autopsy were made public.

 The autopsy confirmed everything the reporters had said. Dr. day. Mr. Jeremy Shelton of the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office found that Jon had inhaled vomit into his airway. The autopsy showed that J’s lungs were heavy with fluid. He had experienced flash pulmonary edema, a condition where liquid rapidly builds up in the lungs.

 J’s lungs weighed 1,390 g each. An average human lung weighs about 400 g. J’s lungs were more than three times heavier than normal. Lethal injection experts said the sensation Jon experienced was like drowning or waterboarding. He felt like he was suffocating. Jon also suffered intramuscular bleeding of his tongue, a common phenomenon in drowning and asphyxiation victims.

 The autopsy proved that John Grant had drowned in his own bodily fluids while strapped to a gurnie. Robert Dunham, executive director of the death penalty information center, criticized director Scott Crowe for lying about what happened. Dunham said, “When self-interested public officials deny reality, it [clears throat] further undermines public confidence in everything they do.

 When it comes to capital punishment, it suggests that Oklahoma can’t be trusted with the death penalty.” John Grant murdered Gay Carter in cold blood. He stabbed her 16 times. He deserved to be punished, but did he deserve to drown to death? Did he deserve to suffer for 21 minutes while officials watched and did nothing? Oklahoma resumed executions after a 6-year moratorum.

 They claimed they had fixed their protocol. They said they had learned from the botched executions of Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner, but John Grant’s execution proved they hadn’t learned anything. Was justice served, or did Oklahoma torture a man to death? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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