Oklahoma Panel Denies Clemency for Death Row Inmate, Paving the Way for Lethal Injection

A state panel on Wednesday denied clemency for an Oklahoma death row inmate convicted of shooting and killing two people in Oklahoma City more than two decades ago, paving the way for his lethal injection next month.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole voted 4-1 to deny recommending clemency for Michael Dewayne Smith, 41, who has been sentenced to die for the slayings of Janet Moore, 41, and Sharath Pulluru, 22, in separate shootings in February 2002. Smith has exhausted his appeals and is scheduled to be executed on April 4.

Appearing in a video interview from death row with his hands shackled and wearing a red prison jumpsuit, Smith expressed his “deepest apologies and deepest sorrows to the families” of the victims, but denied that he was responsible.

Read the source article at AP News