The first death penalty execution in the United States this year: a 2001 murderer

Oklahoma on Thursday condemned a man to death by lethal injection after he was convicted of committing a double murder. The execution marked the first death penalty execution in the United States this year. 

The Oklahoma attorney general John O'Connor's office said in a statement that Donald Grant was executed at 10:16 (1616 GMT) without incident.

An injection containing three lethal substances was given to Grant at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

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The deadly cocktail is believed to cause excruciating pain for the condemned, a violation of the US Constitution. An inmate suffered a convulsion and vomited after receiving the first injection toward the end of October last year.

The 46-year-old's last words were barely intelligible.

Grant had robbed a hotel in 2001 when he was 25 to steal bail money for his girlfriend who was imprisoned.

He opened fire on two hotel employees during the robbery. One of Grant's victims died instantly, and the other’s death was caused by a knife attack by Grant, court documents state.

The man's death sentence was announced in 2005.

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Over the course of his imprisonment, he appealed repeatedly, citing, in particular, intellectual deficiencies to have his sentence overturned. In an online petition, his defenders alleged that he suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and brain damage due to violent abuse from his alcoholic father during his childhood.

On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court rejected his last appeal regarding the manner in which he was to be executed by the southern US state of Oklahoma.

The number of executions carried out annually in the United States has been declining in recent years.

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Currently, 23 states have abolished capital punishment, and three others -- California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania -- have imposed a moratorium on its use.

Following a series of botched executions in Oklahoma, in 2015 the state imposed a moratorium on capital punishment, but it was lifted in 2021. This execution was the third in the state since it resumed lethal injections in October 2021.

(With inputs from agencies)