Oklahoma: Kendrick Simpson executed despite post-traumatic stress disorder

On Thursday morning, 45-year-old Kendrick Simpson was executed by lethal injection in the US state of Oklahoma. He was sentenced to death for killing two young men in a drive-by shooting in 2006. The crime followed an altercation outside a nightclub.

Simpson’s lawyers and supporters pointed out in vain that their client was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the crime. He had been sexually abused for years as a teenager, fathered two children at the age of 16, and spent several years in prison for a shooting during a burglary.

Shortly after his release, he was seriously injured in a shootout, had to undergo sixteen operations, and fled New Orleans for Oklahoma to escape Hurricane Katrina. Fear and paranoia dominated his life, and it was against this backdrop that the crime that earned him the death penalty took place.

In his final words, Simpson thanked his supporters. The victims’ families took offense at his failure to apologize and denied that he showed any remorse. Yet Simpson had spoken very clearly of remorse at the parole board hearing a few weeks earlier:

“I am ashamed that I am the cause of such pain and suffering. I have committed myself to nonviolence on the path to redemption. I am not the worst of the worst. I am not a monster.”

His lawyer said at the clemency hearing: “Kendrick has found redemption through writing. His writings reflect his ongoing commitment to self-reflection, growth, remorse, and responsibility.”

But neither the parole board, the appeals courts, nor the governor found mercy for Kendrick Simpson, whose execution was the first in Oklahoma in eight months.

Sources:
https://eu.oklahoman.com/story/news/local/2026/02/12/admitted-double-murderer-kendrick-simpson-executed-in-oklahoma/88613223007/
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/02/12/kendrick-simpson-oklahoma-execution/88636847007/