An Oklahoma inmate whose life was spared by the governor just moments before he was to receive a lethal injection on Thursday was later found unresponsive and rushed to receive medical attention, prison officials said. Wood was stable and alert Thursday evening, and prison officials don't suspect foul play. Guards found Tremane Wood, 46, unresponsive in his cell during a routine check hours after his sentence was commuted and after he'd visited with his attorneys, says state Department of Corrections spokeswoman Kay Thompson.
Wood had been waiting in a holding cell next to Oklahoma's death chamber on Thursday morning when he learned Gov. Kevin Stitt had commuted his sentence to life without parole. Family members of the victim had supported Wood's clemency bid, and the governor cited their "Christian forgiveness and love" in a statement announcing his decision. Wood had been scheduled to be executed for the stabbing death of Ronnie Wipf, 19, during a botched robbery in 2002, but Wood maintained the actual killer was his brother, who died while serving a life sentence. It's just the second time the Republican governor has granted clemency during his nearly seven years in office.
Wood had received his last meal and been moved to a cell next to the death chamber, but he hadn't yet been strapped to the gurney when the governor made his decision, Thompson said. In his executive order commuting Wood's sentence, Stitt says Wood shall not be eligible to apply for or be considered for a commutation, pardon, or parole for the rest of his life, similar conditions as those imposed in 2021 after he granted clemency to death row inmate Julius Jones.
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