Jan. 12—Dr. Rev. Jeff Hood said he struggled with attending a man's execution despite discussions and a lawsuit leading up to Oklahoma's prison officials reversing a decision to ban him.
Oklahoma
executed Scott Eizember, 62, on Thursday for the 2003 murders of Patsy Cantrell, 70, and her husband, A.J. Cantrell, 76.
Hood said afterward that he grappled with attending his first-ever execution even after all the conversations he had to gain access after Oklahoma Department of Corrections officials initially prohibited him due to previous arrests.
"I was struggling with this feeling that I didn't want to be a part of this, but I wanted to be there for Scott, and so my soul was torn back and forth," Hood said Thursday outside Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. "Ultimately, I'm glad I was there for Scott. I'm glad I was there to love him and tell him that he was loved."
ODOC officials last week denied Hood's presence inside the chamber during the execution because they said the Arkansas minister's anti-death penalty activism and prior arrests made him a potential security threat.
Hood was arrested in a peaceful anti-death penalty protest outside a Texas prison during an inmate's execution in 2016. He told the Associated Press he received a deferred sentence and the case was expunged.
Attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging the ODOC decision to bar Hood from being present as Eizember's spiritual adviser, claiming it violated the inmate's right to express religion.
A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2021 led Oklahoma and other states to start allowing clergy in the death chamber during executions.
ODOC reversed its decision on Wednesday — stating the decision came after prison officials spoke with the Cantrell family and reached an agreement with Hood.
Hood said he had "wonderful" experiences when speaking with the family in person and a member of the Cantrell family briefly spoke with him outside OSP after the execution.
"Obviously we have major disagreements in terms of whether or not Scott should have been executed," Hood said. "There's no question that if it hadn't been for them, we wouldn't have had such a quick resolution to the lawsuit and the settlement, and so I am very thankful for them."
Hood said Eizember was at peace prior to being put to death Thursday and spoke with him for approximately 25 minutes prior — talking about how much he loved his children and thanking his attorneys and supporters.
The minister called his first time watching the execution process "bizarre."
"It's a bizarre occurrence that here in this country we put someone in a room with an audience and kill them and we call it justice," Hood said. "It's a weird thing to watch someone die under normal circumstances. But it is an even stranger thing to be sitting there talking to someone and watch them go out. Watch them go from a completely healthy human being to a dead human being."
Media witnesses said the execution began at 10 a.m., Eizember gave his final statement and conversed with Hood, then mouthed "I love you" to a woman on the other side of the execution chamber glass.
Officials declared Eizember unconscious at 10:07 a.m. and he stopped breathing 3 minutes later.
Hood said he saw color changes in Eizember's face as the execution drugs were administered and the man gasped for air for approximately 2-3 minutes.
"I wasn't frightened or overwhelmed by it, but it was very noticeable," Hood said. "I didn't leave there thinking I just witnessed someone getting beat to death, but it was disturbing."
Hood, who previously worked as a hospital chaplain, said he could not determine if Eizember suffered any pain before officials declared him dead at 10:15 a.m.
3 officers escorted Hood into the prison and an additional security guard watched him intently in the death chamber, media witnesses said.
Afterward, 3 unmarked law enforcement vehicles escorted Hood's vehicle away from the prison grounds.
"It was surprising to me the level of security they felt like they needed to protect themselves from peaceful protest," Hood said.
Source: Yahoo News, Staff, January 12, 2023
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