Oklahoma court sets Brown execution date

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Monday set Jan. 22 for the execution of Darwin Demond Brown, 31, convicted for a 1995 slaying in Tulsa.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson requested the execution date last month after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Brown's final appeal of his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence for the killing of Richard Kevin Yost during the robbery of a convenience store.

The court set the execution date after rejecting a request by Brown's attorney to set aside Edmondson's request because of questions over whether the federal government will pay for Brown's legal fees at an upcoming clemency hearing before the state Pardon and Parole Board.

Edmondson has said previously his office had determined that DNA testing would be of no relevance in Brown's case.

The body of Yost, 30, was found bound and beaten on Feb. 26, 1995, in the cooler of a QuikTrip store just off Interstate 244 in east Tulsa.

Yost's body was discovered by a customer who was looking for help getting a gas pump turned on. Police found Yost's car, which had been taken from the store, in an apartment complex parking lot just east of the store.