Tremane Wood, an inmate on death row at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, was granted an eleventh hour stay of execution. Just moments before his scheduled lethal injection, his life was spared. Wood had served more than two decades in prison. Now, he was soon to be executed because of that same conviction for felony murder in the 2002 stabbing death of Ronnie Wipf, a 19-year-old migrant farm worker from Montana. His legal team and the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board fought fiercely for clemency, but execution remained certain. Their hard work accomplished this last-minute decision, something that is exceedingly rare.
Wood, convicted over 20 years ago, participated in a robbery that resulted in Wipf’s death. Moreover, his attorneys concede that Wood was involved in the robbery as well. They maintain that it was his brother, Zjaiton (“Jake”) Wood, who struck the fatal blow. Zjaiton Wood was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. In 2019, he died by suicide in prison after confessing to killing Wipf. The case remains a flash point of controversy. The allegations include failure by the prosecutors to disclose critical information about the prosecution’s plea deals with the trial’s most important witnesses.
The circumstances or timing could not have been worse as Tremane Wood was to be executed within hours. His attorneys asserted that he’d been denied a fair trial, citing prosecutorial misconduct. Prosecutors paint Wood as an ever-present threat. They accuse him of maintaining his gang ties from prison, including trafficking drugs and orchestrating hits on other inmates. Tremane Wood has moved on from his past life decisions. The one thing he would not concede was that he had killed Wipf.
In an extraordinary turn of events, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recently recommended clemency for Wood. Even Governor Kevin Stitt, no stranger to outrageous suggestions himself, was shocked by this outlandish recommendation. After much deliberation, he chose to commute Wood’s death sentence to life without parole. This is just the second time Stitt has issued clemency during his almost seven years in office.
This will be the fourth execution since the U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-minute request from Tremane Wood’s legal team to stop the execution. As a consequence, the inmate’s fate remained in doubt until the last possible moment. In an emotional moment during a video link sentencing from lockdown, Tremane Wood pleaded, “I’m not a killer,” reflecting his hope to find redemption.
Brendan Wood, Tremane’s son, stood outside the prison on what would have been execution day. His words were loaded with poignant emotional force. He previously characterized the clemency decision as “mental torture” given that it came down to the literal last second. He expressed relief at the outcome, saying, “I feel like a thousand pounds has been lifted off my shoulders.”
“I think there needs to be possibly some precaution in place maybe even a bill that prevents last-second decisions like this … I find that to be mental torture, I don’t find that to be humane.” – Brendan Wood
Brendan Wood on the trauma of impending execution of his father Aftermath of the stress of his father’s likely execution. It sparked a discussion about the emotional impact it had on their family and legal team.
“My stomach still hurts. It was really scary and it’s extremely traumatizing.” – Brendan Wood
Jasmine Brown-Jutras, a sponsor of Tremane Wood, thanked Governor Stitt for his decision. But more than that, she noted, they needed to see past the caricature and understand Wood’s humanity and her potential for redemption.
“We saved him together, God saved him. Thank you to Governor Stitt for making the decision – the right decision – to give Tremane a chance at redemption.” – Jasmine Brown-Jutras
Tremane Wood has acknowledged his past mistakes and expressed regret for his involvement in the events that led to Wipf’s death. In a statement reflecting on his actions, he said, “I regret my role in everything that happened that night.”
Governor Stitt further called the commutation “appropriate especially in relation to the actual punishment which Zjaiton Wood received.” He thinks it’s proportionate to the seriousness of their equally culpable participation in Wipf’s murder. More importantly, he emphasized that this conviction guarantees a particularly violent offender won’t be back on the street again.
“This action reflects the same punishment his brother received for their murder of an innocent young man and ensures a severe punishment that keeps a violent offender off the streets forever.” – Kevin Stitt