(Patriot.Buzz) – Dеlivering the utmost display of justice for the victims, Oklahoma executed a man found guilty of committing two homicides over two decades ago.
According to thе Department of Corrections officials, 41-year-old Michael Smith was executed through lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
Smith was declared dead 11 minutes after the execution process began while a “spiritual advisor” was present within the chamber during his final moments.
Smith was convicted in 2003 for murdering Janet Moore and Sharath Babu Pulluru, a convenience store clerk, at different times in Oklahoma City in 2002.
Although he initially confessеd to the killings, Smith later claimed his memory of the events was foggy because he was under the influence of drugs at the time of his arrest.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parolе Board denied his plea for clemency last month, and the Supreme Court also rejected a last-minute appeal for a stay of execution.
His legal representation called for mercy and claimed that the fact that Smith was intellectually disabled with a history of drug abuse was a factor that should be looked at.
However, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond dismissed Smith’s claims of innocence and said the state would uphold the jury’s verdict based on the evidence presented.
This year, the United States has witnessed three other executions besides Smith’s, with Alabama being the first state to use nitrogen gas for the first time. The remaining executions carried out in Georgia and Texas used lethal injection as the method of execution.
An additional execution had been planned in Idaho but was called off as the medical staff was unable to establish an intravenous line.
Currently, capital punishment is abolished in 23 U.S. states, with temporary suspensions in place in six others after governors issued moratoriums. In total, the United States carried out 24 executions in 2023, all through lethal injection.
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