The state of Oklahoma executed on Thursday a man who admitted to sexually assaulting and killing a 10-year-old girl as part of a sick cannibalistic fantasy, despite his defense team trying to blame the horrific acts on autism and mental health issues.
Kevin Ray Underwood, who turned 45 on the day he was put to death by lethal injection, became the nation’s final legal execution of 2024 for his 2006 crimes against little Jamie Rose Bolin, CBS News reported.
Underwood, who was pronounced dead shortly after 10:00 a.m. local time at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, confessed to luring Jamie into his home before beating, suffocating, and sexually assaulting her.
“He told investigators that he nearly beheaded the girl in his bathtub before abandoning his plans to eat her,” the outlet reported.
During the trial, the jury “quickly” found Underwood guilty and the judge subsequently sentenced him to death, according to a local ABC affiliate.
According to the convict’s attorneys, he suffered from autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and various other mental health issues.
A petition to stop his execution organized by Death Penalty Action argued that the “state-sanctioned murder of someone like Kevin, a mentally ill individual on the autism spectrum, is irreversible and takes us further away from what we want most: a fair, effective, and rehabilitative justice system.”
Despite the lawyers’ arguments and the petition garnering nearly 6,000 signatures, the members of the clemency board rejected their pleas last week.
“Whatever deviance of the mind led Underwood to abduct, beat, suffocate, sexually abuse and nearly decapitate Jamie cannot be laid at the feet of depression, anxiety or (autism),” prosecutors wrote in their opposition to the killer’s request for clemency, obtained by CBS.
“Underwood is dangerous because he is smart, organized and driven by deviant sexual desires rooted in the harm and abuse of others,” prosecutors added.
Underwood apologized to Jamie’s family in a statement before the parole board.
“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.
Jamie’s sister, Lori Pate, expressed gratitude after the execution was completed but said it “does not bring our Jamie back”:
On behalf of Jamie’s family, we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the Office of the Attorney General and the work and the determination demonstrated by the prosecutors and the investigators and all involved who have not only held the responsible party accountable but have also provided a sense of closure for our grieving family. We would also like to send out a heartfelt thanks to Greg Mashburn, who has been with us since the beginning. This does not bring our Jamie back, but it does allow the space in our hearts to focus on her and allow the healing process to begin.
There are 33 remaining inmates on Oklahoma’s death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
