The state plans to perform its first execution of the year Thursday morning.
Kendrick Antonio Simpson is scheduled to be killed by lethal injection at 10 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
Simpson, 45, was convicted more than a decade ago for killing Glen Palmer, 20, and Anthony Jones, 19, after a confrontation at an Oklahoma City nightclub. Another man was wounded.
Simpson is said to have fired as many as 20 shots from a semi-automatic rifle at the victims' car.
He received two death sentences in 2007. Two other men in the car with Simpson made plea deals for 20-year prison terms.
In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider an appeal that argued Simpson's lawyer provided ineffective assistance during the punishment phase of his trial. Simpson's other efforts to avoid the death penalty have been unsuccessful.
In January, Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 against recommending clemency for Simpson ahead of his scheduled execution.
If the board had voted to recommend clemency, Gov. Kevin Stitt would have been tasked with making a final decision on the matter. Stitt has granted clemency only twice, in 2021 to Julius Jones and last November to Tremane Wood.
Simpson's attorneys asked the Pardon and Parole Board to consider clemency because they said he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Simpson survived a difficult childhood, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and being shot himself, his lawyers said.
The victims' families showed up to the hearing to voice their support for Simpson's execution, urging the board to deny clemency.
"When Kendrick Simpson took my brother's life, he took all our lives," said Teleasha Jones, the sister of Anthony Jones.
London Johnson, who survived the shooting, told the board that a part of him died when his friends were killed, and their suffering replays in his mind.
Simpson apologized and asked for mercy.
"Although I don't deserve it, I ask for your collective mercy," he said. "I'm not the worst of the worst. I'm not a monster."
Following the board's vote not to recommend clemency, Attorney General Gentner Drummond commended their decision.
"This ruthless and violent killer hunted and executed his victims without remorse," he said in a press release. "The victims' families will finally see justice when the death sentence is carried out on Feb. 12."
Death penalty opponents will hold a vigil beginning an hour before Simpson's scheduled execution.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
