Oklahoma executes 56-year-old who killed woman two decades ago

Oklahoma executed a man on Thursday for fatally shooting a woman during a home invasion and robbery 20 years agoWendell Grissom 56 was declared dead by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester at 1013 am local time a prison official told The Associated Press AP It was Oklahomas first execution of 2025Grissom and a codefendant Jessie Floyd Johns were convicted of killing of Amber Matthews 23 and wounding her friend Dreu Kopf at Kopfs Blaine County residence Johns was sentenced to life in prison without paroleThree other executions were scheduled this week around the United States Louisiana put a man to death Tuesday using nitrogen gas for the first time as it resumed executions after a 15year hiatusA man who kidnapped and murdered his girlfriends exhusband was executed Wednesday by lethal injection Another lethal injection is scheduled Thursday in FloridaProsecutors said Grissom who had a lengthy criminal record picked up Johns who was hitchhiking and the two men were driving west on Interstate 40 when they decided to commit robberies They randomly selected Kopfs home near Watonga where Matthews was visiting Kopf and her two young childrenMatthews was shot twice in the head and left clinging to life on the floor as Kopf also shot twice and seriously wounded managed to flee in Grissoms truck to get help prosecutors said Grissom and Johns also fled on a stolen fourwheeler but quickly ran out of gas and were captured after hitching a ride to a cafe in a nearby countyAuthorities found Kopfs children still inside the home physically unhurt Matthews died after being flown by helicopter to an Oklahoma City hospitalGrissoms attorneys did not dispute his guilt but argued at a clemency hearing that he suffered from brain damage that was never presented to a jury The states Pardon and Parole Board denied Grissoms request to recommend clemencyGrissoms attorneys told the board he always accepted responsibility and wrote an apology to Matthews family during his first interview with policeHe cannot change the past but he is now and always has been deeply ashamed and remorseful said Kristi Christopher an attorney with the federal public defenders officeKopf told the board that she still carries deep mental and physical scars from the attack including bullet fragments that remain in her body She said that in the years since the attack she has called 911 when the doorbell rings unexpectedly or a stranger appears in her neighborhoodI lived in a heightened state of fear at all times she said tearfullyOklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has called Matthews killing a textbook death penalty caseThe crimes committed by Grissom random brutal attacks on innocent strangers in the sanctity of their own home are the very kind that keep people awake at night Drummond said during last months hearingThe lethal injection in December of Kevin Ray Underwood was the 127th execution by the state of Oklahoma since the US reinstated the death penalty in 1976 state prison records showThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever