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A man convicted of beating his ex-girlfriend to death and killing her 7-month-old baby in a 2007 Tulsa fire was executed in Oklahoma on Thursday.Raymond Johnson, 52, was pronounced dead at 10:12 a.m. Thursday following a three-drug injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, prison officials said. Raymond Johnson conviction Johnson was convicted after beating his girlfriend, 24-year-old Brooke Whitaker, to death with a hammer and then setting a fire that killed Whitaker’s 7-month-old daughter, Kya, in June 2007. Their bodies were discovered in a charred home in Tulsa.Investigators said Johnson struck Whitaker five or six times with a hammer before dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson and sentenced to death.Before killing his ex-girlfriend and her baby, Johnson had been released on parole after serving time for a deadly shooting in the 1990s. Clemency not recommended In April, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted against recommending clemency for Johnson. “Raymond Johnson is a cruel murderer who inflicted unimaginable pain and suffering on his victims,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement following the Pardon and Parole Board meeting. “His heinous actions shattered a family and forced three young children to grow up without their mother or baby sister. There will finally be justice for Brooke and Kya when the death sentence is carried out on May 14.”During Johnson’s clemency hearing, his lawyers presented videos from his family and friends, arguing that he is a changed man. The death row inmate also addressed the board. “I know the love shared because to know Brooke and Kya was to love them. Today I sit here responsible for their deaths. I tried to plead guilty, and I got it,” Johnson said. Raymond Johnson’s last meal Oklahoma Department of Corrections officials said Johnson’s last meal request was a 12-piece boneless chicken, a pint of gizzards, a side of fried pickles, and four packets each of hot sauce and ranch dressing.
A man convicted of beating his ex-girlfriend to death and killing her 7-month-old baby in a 2007 Tulsa fire was executed in Oklahoma on Thursday.
Raymond Johnson, 52, was pronounced dead at 10:12 a.m. Thursday following a three-drug injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, prison officials said.
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Raymond Johnson conviction
Johnson was convicted after beating his girlfriend, 24-year-old Brooke Whitaker, to death with a hammer and then setting a fire that killed Whitaker’s 7-month-old daughter, Kya, in June 2007. Their bodies were discovered in a charred home in Tulsa.
Investigators said Johnson struck Whitaker five or six times with a hammer before dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson and sentenced to death.
Before killing his ex-girlfriend and her baby, Johnson had been released on parole after serving time for a deadly shooting in the 1990s.
Clemency not recommended
In April, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted against recommending clemency for Johnson.
“Raymond Johnson is a cruel murderer who inflicted unimaginable pain and suffering on his victims,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement following the Pardon and Parole Board meeting. “His heinous actions shattered a family and forced three young children to grow up without their mother or baby sister. There will finally be justice for Brooke and Kya when the death sentence is carried out on May 14.”
During Johnson’s clemency hearing, his lawyers presented videos from his family and friends, arguing that he is a changed man. The death row inmate also addressed the board.
“I know the love shared because to know Brooke and Kya was to love them. Today I sit here responsible for their deaths. I tried to plead guilty, and I got it,” Johnson said.
Raymond Johnson’s last meal
Oklahoma Department of Corrections officials said Johnson’s last meal request was a 12-piece boneless chicken, a pint of gizzards, a side of fried pickles, and four packets each of hot sauce and ranch dressing.
