Raymond Johnson was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on Thursday, nearly two decades after he was convicted of the brutal murders of his ex-girlfriend and her 7-month-old daughter.
Johnson was pronounced dead at 10:12 a.m. Thursday, following a three-drug injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, prison officials said.
The 52-year-old was executed for the June 2007 deaths of 24-year-old Brooke Whitaker and her infant, Kya.
Prosecutors detailed how, following an early morning argument at Whitaker’s Tulsa home, Johnson repeatedly struck her head with a metal claw hammer, fracturing her skull and causing over 20 lacerations.
Despite her severe injuries, Whitaker remained conscious and pleaded with Johnson to spare her and Kya, who was asleep in a bedroom, according to documents prepared for Johnson’s clemency hearing.
“She begged him to call 911. She begged him to let her mom come get baby Kya. She begged him to think of her children,” the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office stated.
Johnson then retrieved a gas can, doused Whitaker and the house with gasoline, ignited a dishtowel, threw it at Whitaker, and fled.
Whitaker succumbed to head injuries and smoke inhalation, while Kya died from severe burns.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond condemned Johnson as “a cruel murderer who inflicted unimaginable pain and suffering on his victims.”
Johnson’s attorneys did not file a last-minute appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. Previous appeals, which unsuccessfully argued illegal arrest, coerced confession, and unauthorized concession of guilt by his trial lawyer, failed.
In April, Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board unanimously denied clemency.
At his clemency hearing, Johnson apologized to the victims’ family, claiming to be a changed man.
“I apologize. No excuses, no justifications, a sincere apology. And to know that it’s sincere, look at my actions. Look at my life. Look how I’ve changed. I’m living a remorseful life. I’m living it,” he told Death Penalty Action. However, Whitaker’s family urged the execution to proceed.
Logan Kleck, Whitaker’s oldest daughter, wrote to the board: “Executing him will not give me my mom or sister back, it will not take away almost 20 years of pain. What it will do is finally stop him from continuing to hurt us.”
Johnson also has a 1996 manslaughter conviction, for which he served nine years of a 20-year sentence.
If carried out, his execution would be the second in Oklahoma this year and the 11th nationwide.
