“I didn’t kill nobody!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard it before. One of the hazards of working with guys on death row is that you catch more than your fair share of bullshit. Most of the time such talk doesn’t pan out. Most folk on death row have committed heinous crimes. That doesn’t mean they should be executed but it does mean that the phrase “I didn’t kill nobody!” isn’t often accurate. Yet, in the case of Emmanuel Littlejohn such a phrase doesn’t seem to be too far off.
Emmanuel Littlejohn is no saint. On June 19, 1992, Littlejohn partnered with Glenn Bethany to rob the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in Oklahoma City. The fear that the three people working in the store must have been palpable. “Get on the ground!” “Give me all your money!” “Nobody move!” Most of us have heard the phrases before on television or in the movies…but hearing them live must have been different. What would cause someone to do such a thing? Youth. Poverty. Desperation. The reasons are numerous. The result was tragedy.
As Bethany and Littlejohn rushed out the door. Bethany fired a shot. The bullet struck Kenneth Meers in the face. The shot was enough to end his life. I’ve often wondered about that shot. What was the point? Weren’t they already getting away? Life isn’t fair. Meers didn’t deserve that. Nobody does.
The absurdity of it all continued at trial. Bethany took a deal. Littlejohn was sentenced to death. How is such at outcome possible? Littlejohn didn’t kill nobody. Bethany was the one who fired the shot. In a society determined to kill, truth doesn’t matter.
Throughout decades of appeals, the record has repeatedly suggested that Littlejohn didn’t kill nobody. So why is society so determined to kill him? The only reason that I can think of is vengeance. How can we build an ethical society based on vengeance? We can’t. Such activity can only perpetuate the hell we’re already living in.
While I’m sure there are countless reasons to save the life of Emmanuel Littlejohn, one seems to stick out the most…he didn’t kill nobody.
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