Kevin Ray Underwood was executed in Oklahoma on Thursday, marking the state’s 25th and final execution of the year. Underwood, who was 45 years old, was put to death for the horrific killing of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Rolin in 2006. The crime, which involved a chilling cannibalistic fantasy, shocked the world.
On the morning of his execution, Underwood was pronounced dead at 10:14 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. His execution was the fourth in Oklahoma this year.
The state carries out executions using a three-drug lethal injection. The first drug, midazolam, is a sedative, followed by vecuronium bromide, which paralyzes the body, and finally potassium chloride, which stops the heart. In response to concerns about the method’s effectiveness and humanity, Oklahoma has approved a backup execution method: nitrogen hypoxia, though it has never been used.
Underwood’s crime was gruesome. He lured Jamie into his apartment, where he beat her with a cutting board, suffocated her, and sexually assaulted her. He even planned to decapitate her but ultimately abandoned that part of his sick fantasy. Later, he admitted to authorities that he had considered eating her.
During a hearing just days before his execution, Underwood apologized to Jamie’s family. “I would like to apologize to the victim’s family, to my own family, and to everyone in that room today that had to hear the horrible details of what I did,” he said.
Despite his apology, the state’s Pardon and Parole Board voted unanimously to deny clemency, siding with the prosecutor’s view that his actions were not the result of mental illness, but rather deviant desires that he was fully in control of.
Underwood’s attorneys tried to argue for clemency, citing his troubled mental health history, which includes autism, bipolar disorder, and various other conditions. His mother, Connie, also made a tearful plea for mercy, saying, “I wish we understood his pain before it led to this tragedy.”
However, some members of Jamie’s family were resolute in their stance. Curtis Bolin, Jamie’s father, was so emotional during the hearing that he was unable to testify.
In a last-ditch effort, Underwood’s lawyers filed a request for a stay of execution with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that his hearing before the parole board had been mishandled. But the execution proceeded as planned.
Meanwhile, in a separate case, Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip is still fighting for a new trial, after facing nine execution dates. It’s been a long, painful journey for Glossip, who has had to prepare for death multiple times.
Oklahoma’s death row remains controversial, with 11 innocent people having been released over the years. As of now, 33 individuals are still on death row in the state.
In the end, Underwood’s execution closed out a year of contentious death penalty cases in Oklahoma, leaving behind a haunting reminder of the dark side of justice.
