Tremane Wood, 46, was hospitalized after being found unresponsive in a new cell hours after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted his death sentence to life without parole. Prison officials said Wood suffered a medical event that caused injuries; doctors attributed the episode to dehydration and stress. Wood told ODOC he could not fully explain the incident and said he may have rolled off his bunk and had not eaten or drunk since the previous evening. He was discharged from the hospital and returned to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, where he met with family and a spiritual adviser. The commutation follows a parole board recommendation and matches the sentence given to Wood’s brother, who died in 2019.
Oklahoma Death-Row Inmate Hospitalized Hours After Governor Commutes His Sentence
Tremane Wood, 46, was hospitalized after being found unresponsive in a new cell hours after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted his death sentence to life without parole. Prison officials said Wood suffered a medical event that caused injuries; doctors attributed the episode to dehydration and stress. Wood told ODOC he could not fully explain the incident and said he may have rolled off his bunk and had not eaten or drunk since the previous evening. He was discharged from the hospital and returned to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, where he met with family and a spiritual adviser. The commutation follows a parole board recommendation and matches the sentence given to Wood’s brother, who died in 2019.
08:30 AM, 11/14/2025Society
Death-row inmate hospitalized after being found unresponsive following clemency
Tremane Wood, 46, was taken to a nearby hospital Thursday after correctional staff found him unresponsive in a new cell just hours after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted his death sentence to life without parole on the morning he had been scheduled for execution.
According to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC), Wood spent several hours meeting with his attorneys after the governor’s clemency decision, and staff moved him off death row into a different cell. Later, a correctional officer discovered him “unresponsive”; prison medical personnel concluded he had experienced a medical event that resulted in injuries.
Officials said Wood was transported to a nearby hospital “out of extreme caution,” where doctors determined the episode was caused by dehydration and stress. He was later discharged and returned to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, where he met with family members and a spiritual adviser.
"I'm extremely proud of my team today," ODOC Executive Director Justin Farris said. "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."
In a phone call with ODOC spokesperson Kay Thompson after the incident, Wood said he could not fully explain what happened. He reportedly told Thompson that he had lain down to sleep and "must have rolled off his bunk," and that the next thing he remembered was waking up in the infirmary with a swollen head and a busted lip. Wood also said no one else was in his cell at the time and that he had not eaten or drunk anything since the previous evening.
Amanda Bass Castro Alves, one of Wood’s attorneys, told CBS News she could not comment early Friday on his medical condition.
Case background
Wood was convicted, along with his brother Zjaiton Wood, in the 2001 killing of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker from Montana, during a botched robbery at an Oklahoma City hotel. Zjaiton Wood was sentenced to life without parole and died in 2019. Tremane Wood’s legal team has maintained that, while Tremane participated in the robbery, his brother was the person who carried out the killing.
Last week, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Tremane Wood. Gov. Stitt said he accepted that recommendation and commuted Wood’s sentence to life without parole, noting the commutation matched the punishment given to Wood’s brother. This was the governor’s second clemency grant since taking office and makes Tremane Wood the sixth condemned person in the state’s modern era of capital punishment to receive clemency.