An Oklahoma death row inmate was hospitalized Thursday after being found unresponsive in his cell, officials said, just hours after being granted clemency on the same day he was scheduled to be executed.
Forty-six-year-old Tremane Wood was granted clemency Thursday morning by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt. After that decision came down, Wood met with his attorneys for “several hours,” according to a statement from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. The agency said it then moved him off death row and into a new cell.
At some point, a correctional officer found Wood “unresponsive” in his new cell, the department said, and prison staff determined that he had “experienced a medical event that resulted in injuries.”
Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP
Wood was taken to a nearby hospital “out of extreme caution,” where doctors found that his “medical event” was due to “dehydration and stress,” the department said. Â
Following the incident, Wood also took part in a phone call with ODOC spokesperson Kay Thompson, the department said, in which he told her that he couldn’t “really explain what happened.”Â
He allegedly told Thompson that he had laid down to sleep and “must have rolled off his bunk,” disclosing that the next thing he remembered was waking “up in the infirmary” with “[his] head busted and [his] lip busted,” according to the department.
“He also confirmed that no one else was in his cell at the time of the medical event and that he did not do anything intentionally to cause it,” the department said in its news release.
In the phone call, Wood allegedly indicated to Thompson that he had not eaten or drank anything since Wednesday evening, the department added.
He was discharged from the hospital and returned to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, where he spoke with his family and a spiritual adviser, the department said.
CBS News has reached out to Wood’s attorneys for comment.Â
“I’m extremely proud of my team today,” ODOC Executive Director Justin Farris said in a statement. “It is our statutory duty to carry out court-ordered sentences, and our staff always perform their duties with extreme professionalism and with the utmost respect and compassion. Today’s events highlight the tremendous job they do day in and day out, especially during high-profile events.”
Wood had been sentenced to death after being convicted, along with his brother Zjaiton Wood, in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker from Montana, during a botched robbery at an Oklahoma City hotel.
Zjaiton Wood was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He died in 2019.
Tremane Wood and his attorneys, however, had always maintained that while he was involved in the robbery, he did not carry out the slaying, arguing that the murder was committed by Zjaiton Wood alone.
Last week, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Tremane Wood.
“After a thorough review of the facts and prayerful consideration, I have chosen to accept the Pardon and Parole Board’s recommendation to commute Tremane Wood’s sentence to life without parole,” Stitt said in a statement Thursday morning. “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.”
This marked Stitt’s second clemency since taking office. Tremane Wood is also the sixth condemned person to receive clemency in the state in the modern history of capital punishment. Â
Emily Mae Czachor
contributed to this report.
