Nearly two decades after Kevin Ray Underwood murdered his 10-year-old neighbor, he died by lethal injection Thursday morning at 10:14 a.m., according to media witnesses.
By coincidence, it was his 45th birthday.
Underwood was sentenced to death in 2008 for killing Jamie Bolin in Purcell two years earlier. He confessed to police that he lured Bolin into his house, beat her over the head, attempted to decapitate her and stashed her body in a plastic tub with hopes of later eating it.
After exhausting his standard opportunities to appeal, Underwood challenged the constitutionality of the state’s death penalty because it gave too many options for the method of killing. The Oklahoma Supreme Court declined to hear oral arguments in the case.
Underwood was denied clemency earlier this month. His clemency hearing was delayed when one member of the Pardon and Parole Board resigned amid allegations of sexual conduct.
Bolin's sister, Lori Pate, thanked law enforcement for their work in helping bring closure to her family.
"This doesn't bring our Jamie back but it does allow the space in our hearts to focus on her and allow the healing process to begin," she said in the statement.
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