Oklahoma man Kevin Ray Underwood was put to death by lethal injection on Thursday in the nation’s 25th and final execution of the year.
Underwood was pronounced dead at 10:14 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, information provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) to Fox News Digital states. He killed a 10-year-old girl back in 2006 as part of a cannibalistic fantasy.
Underwood, a former grocery store worker, admitted to luring Jamie Rose Bolin into his apartment and beating her over the head with a cutting board before suffocating and sexually assaulting her. He told investigators that he nearly beheaded Jamie in his bathtub before abandoning his plans to eat her.
His last meal was chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, pinto beans, a hot roll, a cheeseburger and fries with ketchup and “cola from the canteen,” the ODOC said. He received it at 5:40 p.m. Wednesday.
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Kevin Ray Underwood appears in the courtroom for his formal sentencing in Purcell, Oklahoma, on April 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, Pool, File)
Underwood elected not to have a chaplain present in the execution room, according to the ODOC. He did opt for sedatives during the three-chemical protocol lethal injection that took place on his 45th birthday.
Local TV station KOCO states witnesses said Underwood apologized for what he did and to the Bolin family. He also reportedly said it was “needlessly cruel to my family” to execute him on his birthday and six days before Christmas.
No complications were reported with the execution, witnesses told KOCO.
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Entrance Gate and Guard Station at Oklahoma State Penitentiary. (Shepard Sherbell/CORBIS SABA/Corbis via Getty Images)
Underwood’s attorneys had argued that he deserved to be spared the death penalty because of his long history of abuse and serious mental health issues that included autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar and panic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizotypal personality disorder and various deviant sexual paraphilias.
Prosecutors argued that many people suffer from mental illness, but that doesn’t justify harming children.
In a last-minute request seeking a stay of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court, Underwood’s attorneys argued that he deserved a hearing before all five members of the board and that the panel violated state law and Underwood’s rights by rescheduling the hearing at the last minute after two members of the board resigned. The court rejected that bid earlier Thursday morning.
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen at sunset. The court rejected a bid earlier Thursday morning that would have stayed the execution of Kevin Underwood. (Aaron Schwartz/SIPA USA)
Underwood was convicted in Cleveland County of first-degree murder on April 3, 2008. He was 28 years old when the ODOC received him on April 7, 2008.
Oklahoma has executed 206 men and three women since 1915, information from the ODOC states.
Currently, 32 men and one woman are on death row in Oklahoma.
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“Today’s event and the circumstances that led to it have affected many people – especially the family of 10-year-old Jame Rose Bolin,” a statement from ODOC Director Steven Harpe said. “As an agency, we carried out the court’s orders according to our high standards of professionalism and respect for those in our custody, ensuring dignity for everyone involved in the process.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
