May 14 (UPI) — The state of Oklahoma on Thursday carried out the death sentence of a 52-year-old Tulsa man for the 2007 murder of his ex-girlfriend and their infant daughter, the Sooner State’s second execution of the year and the nation’s 11th.
Raymond E. Johnson was administered the three-drug cocktail at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and was declared dead at 10:12 a.m. CDT, Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Justin Farris said to reporters at a press conference.
Johnson was executed for killing Brooke Whitaker, 24, and their 7-month-old daughter, Kya, on June 23, 2007, in a domestic violence slaying.
Court documents state he bludgeoned Whitaker in the head with a hammer after an argument. He told police he struck her after she grabbed a knife and tried to stab him.
On the floor, Whitaker asked Johnson to call 911. Instead, he struck her five more times. Though Whitaker was still alive, pleading for him to get help, he went to the shed where he retrieved a gasoline can.
The court documents state he doused Whitaker and the house with gasoline, and set the house on fire, with Kya asleep inside.
Kya died at the scene from injuries sustained in the fire. Whitaker was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
A Tulsa County jury convicted Johnson on two counts of first-degree murder in 2009 and sentenced him to death.
He repeatedly challenged his conviction and death sentence, including three petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied review in 2012, 2019 and 2021.
On April 8, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 5-0 to deny Johnson clemency.
Whitaker had three other children.
“To Brooke and Kya and your family, I apologize for any pain I have caused you,” Johnson said in his final statement, according to media witnesses who spoke in a press conference following the execution.
“I know I hurt you. One day, I hope you can forgive me,” Johnson said. “I hope one day people can speak your name without it being tied to mine.”
The execution began at 10:01 a.m., according to Farris. At 10:02 a.m., Johnson shed a single tear, a media witness said.
“Justice has been served for Brooke Whitaker and her infant daughter, Kya. Their lives were taken far too soon in a heinous act of violence,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement.
“I pray that Brooke’s and Kya’s family find some measure of peace today after enduring unimaginable pain and grief for nearly two decades.”
His was the United States’ 11th execution of the year and came house before Texas was scheduled to execute Edward Busby on Thursday night.
“Raymond Johnson lived a hard life, culminating in the tragic death of two people,” Rev. Don Heath, immediate past president of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said in a statement emailed to UPI.
“He repented and found redemption on death row. The state has desecrated this beautiful spring day by executing a good man and calling it justice.”
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