Michael Dewayne Smith executed in Oklahoma decades after double murder
The first execution of 2024 was carried out in Oklahoma, with Michael Dewayne Smith receiving a lethal injection for his involvement in a double murder.
Smith, who was 19 at the time, committed the crimes during a drug-fueled crime spree in Oklahoma City in 2002, resulting in the deaths of Janet Moore and Sarath Babu Pulluru.
When given the opportunity for any final words, the 41-year-old Smith simply responded, “Nah, I’m good.”
This execution marks the 12th since Oklahoma resumed its death penalty procedures in 2021, following a nearly seven-year hiatus prompted by various issues during previous executions. In 2014, a condemned prisoner experienced apparent agony for 43 minutes before succumbing to a heart attack, while the following year, another prisoner undergoing execution described the experience as feeling like “acid” and claimed that their “body is on fire.”
Smith’s crimes occurred while he was evading authorities for a previous shooting death a year prior. Janet Moore was fatally shot when Smith sought her son, whom he suspected of being a police informant, at her residence.
In a separate attack, Sarath Babu Pulluru was killed when Smith mistook him for another convenience store clerk who had made comments to a local newspaper about Smith’s criminal gang.
Smith died within minutes of receiving the lethal cocktail of three drugs, according to reporters who witnessed it at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
He was pronounced dead at 10:20 ET on Thursday, the Department of Corrections confirmed to CBS News, the BBC’s media partner in the US.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond released a statement after Smith was declared dead, saying: “I am grateful that justice has been served.”
The family of Janet Moore also released a statement declaring that “justice has been served” and thanking authorities for pursuing the punishment over the past 22 years.
“It does not go unnoticed or in vain, as we were constantly reminded this is justice for a loss that has caused a ripple for generations to come,” the family wrote.
Sarath Babu Pulluru’s family said in a statement that Sharath “will forever live in our hearts”.
