An Oklahoma inmate whose life was spared by Governor Kevin Stitt just moments before he was to receive a lethal injection on Thursday, November 13, was later found unresponsive inside his cell.

 

Guards found Tremane Wood, 46, unresponsive in his cell during a routine check hours after his sentence was commuted and after he had visited with his attorneys, said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Kay Thompson.

 

 

It was determined that dehydration and stress caused Wood’s medical event, and he was stable and alert Thursday evening, prison officials said.

 

 

Wood told Thompson he was alone in his cell when he went to lie down and believes he may have rolled off his bunk after losing consciousness, according to a recorded interview with Wood released by the Department of Corrections after he was taken to a hospital.

 

‘I didn’t have all my senses,’ Wood said in the recording. ‘I woke up in the infirmary with my head busted and my lip busted, and that’s pretty much it right there.’

 

 

Wood said he hadn’t eaten anything since the previous day, and that he didn’t try to harm himself.

 

 

At the end of the recording, Wood said: ‘Tell Governor Stitt I said ‘thank you.”

 

Wood was waiting in a cell next to Oklahoma’s death chamber Thursday morning when he learned Stitt commuted his sentence to life without parole.

 

Family members of the victim, who grew up in a Hutterite religious community in Montana, supported Wood’s clemency.

 

 

The governor cited their ‘Christian forgiveness and love,’ in a statement announcing his decision.

 

 

Wood was sentenced for fatally stabbing Ronnie Wipf, 19, during a botched robbery in 2002, but Wood maintained that the actual killer was his brother, who died serving a life sentence.

 

 

It is the second time the Republican governor has granted clemency during his nearly seven years in office.

 

‘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,’ the governor said

 

 

Stitt’s order said Wood shall not be eligible to apply for or be considered for a commutation, pardon or parole for the rest of his life.