Oklahoma has executed the second death row inmate of 2023.
Jemaine Monteil Cannon was pronounced dead by lethal injection at 10:13 a.m. Thursday morning, in McAlester. He was 51.
Cannon was convicted for the 1995 stabbing death of Sharonda White Clark at her home in Tulsa.
Before committing the murder, Cannon had recently escaped custody from a work center in Walters, where he had been serving a 15-year sentence for an assault on an 18-year-old Tulsa woman in 1990. Corrections officials at the time said Cannon was at the work center because they were limited on space at higher security prisons.
Last month, Oklahoma's Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency for Cannon by a 3-2 vote.
"Justice was finally served this morning for Sharonda Clark with the execution of her murderer," said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummon. "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."
Cannon is the ninth person to be executed by Oklahoma since the state resumed the practice in 2021. Two other men are slated to be put to death this year.
