An Oklahoma death row inmate received a lethal injection Thursday morning in the nation’s 25th execution and the last of the year. Kevin Ray Underwood sentenced to death Charged with the murder of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin. as part of a cannibal fantasy in 2006.
Underwood, a former grocery store employee, turned 45 on the day he was executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. The man was pronounced dead at 10:14 a.m., state Department of Corrections spokesman Lance West told The Associated Press. Underwood’s death was Oklahoma’s fourth execution in 2024. The state has the third-highest number of death sentences executed since January 1, behind Texas, which has executed five people, and Alabama, which has executed six people.
As Underwood’s execution began at 10:04 a.m., he looked out for members of his defense team and his family, including his mother. His breathing became slightly erratic and his eyes closed after a few minutes. Doctors entered the execution chamber at 10:09 a.m., shook the man several times and declared him unconscious. He was pronounced dead five minutes later.
Oklahoma uses a lethal injection cocktail containing three drugs. Its execution protocol begins with the sedative midazolam, followed by a second drug, vecuronium bromide, which paralyzes the inmate. The third drug, potassium chloride, stops the heart. Oklahoma has also approved a controversial new method of execution after the efficacy and humaneness of the drugs used in lethal injections were questioned. nitrogen hypoxia The idea is to put prisoners to death, but the state has never used it to date.
Strapped to a stretcher in the death chamber, Underwood apologized to Bolin’s family and his own family “for all the terrible things I did.”
“The decision to execute me six days before my birthday and Christmas was an act of needless cruelty to my family,” Underwood said. “But I deeply regret what I did.” I want to take it back,” he said.
Underwood admitted to luring Jamie into his apartment, hitting her over the head with a cutting board, choking her and sexually assaulting her. The man told investigators that he nearly decapitated the girl in his bathtub before abandoning his plan to eat her.
Sue Ogrocki/AP
Bolin’s sister Lori Pate, one of several relatives who attended the execution, thanked prosecutors for guiding her family through the nearly 18-year process from the child’s death to Underwood’s execution. did.
“This won’t bring Jamie back, but it will free up some mental space to focus on her and begin the healing process,” Pate said.
At a hearing last week before the state Board of Pardons and Parole, Underwood told the girl’s family that she was sorry.
“I want to apologize to the victim’s family, my own family, and everyone who had to hear the horrific details of what I did in that room today,” Underwood told the board via video from an Oklahoma prison. ” he said.
All three board members who attended last week’s meeting voted against the pardon recommendation.
Underwood’s lawyers say that Underwood has a long history of abuse and suffers from autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia and various abnormal disorders. He argued that he deserved to be spared death because he suffered from serious mental health issues. sexual paraphilia.
His mother, Connie Underwood, tearfully asked the board to show mercy to her son.
“I can’t imagine the amount of heartache that this precious little girl’s family is going through every day,” Connie Underwood said. “I wish I could have understood his pain before this tragedy happened.”
However, some of Bolin’s family members asked the board to reject Underwood’s clemency proposal. The girl’s father, Curtis Bolin, was scheduled to testify before the board, but he put his head in his hands and choked up.
“Sorry, I can’t,” he said.
Prosecutors objected to Underwood’s request for clemency, saying, “Underwood was in a deviant state of mind that led him to abduct Jamie, beat him, choked him, sexually abused him, and nearly decapitated him.” “Cannot be laid to rest due to depression, anxiety, or (autism).”
“Underwood is dangerous because he is smart, organized, and driven by deviant sexual desires rooted in harm and abuse of others.”
In a last-minute request to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of sentence, Underwood’s lawyers argued that he deserves to be heard by a five-member parole board and that the parole board last They argued that rescheduling the trial violated state law and Underwood’s rights. Minutes after two members of the board resigned.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court considers bid by Oklahoma death row inmates Richard Glossip to quash his conviction and give him a new trial. Glossip, 61, has been to the death row a total of nine times and has eaten his “last meal” three times.
Eleven innocent people have been released from Oklahoma’s death row, and seven pardons have been granted in the state, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. After Underwood’s execution, there are now 33 people on Oklahoma’s death row, according to the center.
