By Fox23.com News Staff
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Death row inmate Kendrick Simpson has been denied clemency by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board by a vote of 3-2.
Simpson was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder in 2007 and sentenced to death for the murders of Glen Palmer and Anthony Jones.
Simpson is set to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday, February 12 at 10 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
Back in December, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond formally requested that the board deny clemency.
“This ruthless and violent killer hunted and executed his victims without remorse,” Drummond said in a statement. “I commend the Pardon and Parole Board for rejecting clemency today. The victims’ families will finally see justice when the death sentence is carried out on Feb. 12.”
Dr. Elizabeth Overman, chair for the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty sent in a statment following Simpson’s clemency denial. It reads:
Is the State of Oklahoma capable of “extending grace to the man who Kendrick Simpson is today” or “reducing him to a one-dimensional character” punished for what happened on the worst day of his life? Ignoring the deep remorse that Kendrick Simpson expresses for the families of those whose lives were taken, the Oklahoma Pardon & Parole Board just showed that it is not fully capable of recognizing the positive impact of transformative rehabilitation and showed no mercy for Kendrick Simpson. This is a sad day for Oklahoma.
