Man on Oklahoma's Death Row for 1997 murder of co-worker executed in McAlester Thursday morning

Oklahoma death row inmate James Coddington was executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on Thursday for the 1997 hammer killing in Choctaw of co-worker Albert Hale, who prosecutors say refused to lend Coddington $50 to buy drugs.

Oklahoma Director of Corrections Scott Crow told the media that the execution started at 10:02, Coddington was unconscious by 10:08, and he died at 10:16.

Coddington thanked several people including family members and attorneys with his last words.

Governor. Kevin Stitt announced earlier in the day he was denying clemency for the death row inmate and Coddington's last meal was two cheeseburgers, two crunchy fish tacos, two large fries, and a large coke.

This marks the first execution in 2022. It comes after weeks of debate about whether the state's execution methods are constitutional and violated death row inmates' rights.

A stay of execution was granted for Coddington in March 2022 after the courts put a hold on executions to determine the requests. Months later, a judge ruled that Oklahoma can continue with its executions by lethal injection, ruling that the inmates in this case "have fallen well short" of proving that the method of execution violates their constitutional rights.