Michael DeWayne Smith
Michael DeWayne Smith was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on April 4, 2024, after more than two decades on death row. Before the execution he spoke briefly with his spiritual advisor, Jeff Hood, and Corrections Director Steven Harpe later said Smith was expressing love to his family. His attorneys argued that he was intellectually disabled and that years of drug abuse had worsened his condition, and his legal team and family asked the Pardon and Parole Board for clemency in March; the board voted 4 to 1 against. At the hearing Smith said he had never killed the people at the center of his case, and his lawyers questioned the state's case and its use of witnesses. The execution took about 12 minutes, and he was declared dead at 10:20 a.m., according to The Frontier.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. His attorneys argued he was intellectually disabled, his legal team and family asked the Pardon and Parole Board for clemency over his developmental challenges, and he said at the hearing that he had never killed the people at the center of his case.
Reported by: Oklahoma Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); news reporting on the execution at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester (reporters).