Oklahoma executes man for 2006 killings: "I apologize for murdering your sons"

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A antheral who admitted to sidesplitting 2 men successful a drive-by shooting successful 2006 was enactment to decease Thursday successful Oklahoma's archetypal execution of the year.

Kendrick Simpson, 45, was pronounced dormant astatine 10:19 CT pursuing a three-drug injection astatine the Oklahoma State Penitentiary successful McAlester, situation officials said. He was convicted of sidesplitting Anthony Jones, 19, and Glen Palmer, 20, by firing into their car pursuing an altercation astatine an Oklahoma City nightclub.

Simpson, who had fled to Oklahoma City from the devastated metropolis of New Orleans aft Hurricane Katrina successful 2005, admitted to the killings during a clemency proceeding past month. He apologized to the victims' families and to a 3rd antheral who was successful the conveyance erstwhile Jones and Palmer were shot.

"I apologize for murdering your sons," Simpson said astatine the hearing. "I don't marque immoderate excuses. I don't blasted others, and they didn't merit what happened to them."

Despite his apology, the state's five-member Pardon and Parole Board narrowly voted to contradict Simpson clemency. And connected Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court had nary remark arsenic it rejected a precocious entreaty to artifact the execution.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a beardown protagonist of the decease penalty, had urged the parole committee to contradict Simpson's clemency petition. In a formal request submitted to the committee precocious past year, Drummond said that Simpson failed to show genuine remorse oregon instrumentality accountability for his crimes. A connection from his bureau besides accused the inmate of continuing "to embody the convulsive behaviour that led a assemblage to unanimously enforce the decease penalty."

Simpson's attorneys had argued that helium suffered from posttraumatic accent upset stemming from chronic trauma successful his puerility years increasing up successful a New Orleans lodging project.

"Kendrick is simply a antheral worthy of your mercy and compassion," his attorneys wrote successful his clemency application. "The decease punishment is expected to beryllium reserved for the worst of the worst offenses and offenders. Kendrick and his lawsuit correspond neither."

Randy Bauman, of the American Civil Liberties Union successful Oklahoma, wrote a elaborate editorial for the organization's website successful which helium described Simpson arsenic intelligent, personable, comic and kind, among different affirmative attributes.

"It's been a privilege to get to cognize Kendrick," Bauman wrote successful the piece.

On the nighttime of the sidesplitting successful January 2006, prosecutors say, Simpson had placed an battle firearm successful the trunk of a conveyance that helium and his friends drove to a nine successful northwest Oklahoma City. After an altercation astatine the nine betwixt Simpson and Palmer, prosecutors accidental Simpson and his friends followed Palmer and Jones from a adjacent state presumption and that Simpson pointed the weapon retired the model and fired astir 20 rounds into their car. Both victims were changeable aggregate times.

Some of the victims' household members told the committee they supported his execution.

"Do I judge this antheral should unrecorded and beryllium capable to respire and instrumentality retired the remainder of his beingness down a cell?" Palmer's sister, Crystal Allison, wrote successful a missive to the panel. "He made the prime for him truthful I basal present contiguous to marque the prime for my family. Yes, we would similar to spot him executed for what helium did — helium executed my brother."

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond commended the committee for denying Simpson clemency, calling him a "ruthless and convulsive slayer who hunted his victims without remorse."

The authorities uses the sedative midazolam, followed by vecuronium bromide to halt the breathing and potassium chloride to halt the heart.

Simpson's scheduled execution was to beryllium the 2nd of the twelvemonth successful the United States. Florida, which conducted a authorities grounds of 19 executions successful 2025, enactment Ronald Palmer Heath to decease with a three-drug injection connected Tuesday for his condemnation successful the 1989 sidesplitting of a traveling salesman helium and his member met astatine a Gainesville bar.

A full of 47 people were executed successful the U.S. successful 2025, with Florida starring the mode with a flurry of decease warrants signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for 2nd spot with 5 executions each that year.

Florida is scheduled to transportation retired the adjacent execution successful the U.S. connected Tuesday, the planned lethal injection of Melvin Trotter for the sidesplitting of a market store proprietor during a robbery.

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