Oklahoma has executed 50-year-old James Coddington, the first of 25 death row inmates the state intends to put to death through 2024, the state's corrections director confirmed Thursday morning.
Coddington, who was sentenced to die for murdering Albert Hale in 1997 amid his struggle with a crack cocaine addiction, was executed after Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday denied his request for clemency. Coddington's attorneys and advocates had hoped his life would be spared, pointing to his remorse for Hale's murder, his traumatic childhood and rehabilitation while on Oklahoma's death row.
The time of death was 10:16 a.m. CT, Department of Corrections Director Scott Crow told reporters.
"Today's not a good day, it's not a bad day, it's just a new day for our family," Mitchell Hale, the victim's son, told reporters after attending the execution. "We can finally move on. It's not going to heal anything, but it closes this chapter."
