Oklahoma is preparing for the execution of Michael Dewayne Smith, 41, convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of Janet Moore, 41, and Sharath Pulluru, 22, in Oklahoma City in February 2002. Smith is set to receive a lethal injection on Thursday.
If carried out, this would mark Oklahoma's first execution of the year and the twelfth since the state resumed executions in 2021 after a nearly seven-year hiatus due to issues with executions in 2014 and 2015.
During a clemency hearing in the past month, Smith expressed his "deepest apologies and deepest sorrows to the families" of the victims while denying his responsibility, stating, "I didn’t commit these crimes.
I didn’t kill these people." Smith, at times tearful during his 15-minute address to the board, claimed he was under the influence of drugs and had no recollection of being arrested.
Prosecutors, however, portrayed Smith as a merciless gang member who killed both victims as acts of vengeance.
They alleged that he confessed his involvement in the killings to police and two others. According to the prosecutors, Smith killed Moore because he mistakenly believed her son had informed the police about his location.
Later that day, prosecutors assert Smith killed Pulluru, a convenience store clerk, whom Smith believed had disrespected his gang during an interview with a newspaper reporter.
Smith's attorney, Mark Henricksen, argued that Smith is intellectually disabled, a condition exacerbated by years of heavy drug use.
Henricksen pleaded for Smith's life to be spared, advocating for him to spend the remainder of his life in prison.
Henricksen claimed Smith was in a PCP-induced haze when he confessed to the police and that crucial elements of his confession are unsupported by facts.