Galesburg native Richard Glossip is a dead man walking, and some say he deserves to die.
But an Academy Award winning actress and a nationally known death penalty opponent are teaming up to try and save his life. They say they believe he is an innocent man.
Glossip is set to die by lethal injection on September 16th, in an Oklahoma prison, for a 1997 murder he did not commit.
"The dying part doesn't bother me. Everbody dies, but I want people to know I did not kill this man, I didn't plan it," Glossip has said in an earlier interview from death row.
It's true Glossip didn't kill Oklahoma City businessman Barry Van Treese. A handyman named Justin Sneed did, but Sneed told police - and later testified in court - that it was Glossip who hired him to beat Van Treese with a baseball bat.
Sneed copped a plea deal for a life sentence. Glossip was sentenced to die.
Glossip was born and raised in Galesburg, where several of his nieces still live.
"Sneed is the one who committed the murder. My uncle Ricky didn't commit the murder and he gets sentenced to the death penalty. It's unfair," said Felicia Glossip.
"He is an innocent man," she said.
The case is getting national attention with the involvement of actress Susan Sarandon and Sister Helen Prejean, of the film Dead Man Walking.
"I know he should not die, and he must not die," said Sister Prejean at an earlier news conference.
But the victim's family says Glossip hired the hit man because he was afraid he was going to be fired over missing money. Glossip managed the motel for Van Treese, a husband and father of five.
Donna Van Treese says Glossip was the mastermind of the killing.
"Without a doubt in my mind," she said.
A social media campaign is underway, and an online petition has also been launched. Glossip's attorneys are wrangling for a stay of execution.
Felicia Glossip, who hasn't seen her uncle in more than 20 years, believes time has run out.
"I wrote him a letter today. What do you say to a man who's got 20-some days to live?" she said.