A CANNIBAL child killer has given his final apology to the family of his 10-year-old victim before being executed on his birthday.
Strapped to a gurney, Kevin Ray Underwood said his last sorry before receiving the injection that ended his life.
Underwood is escorted in a courthouse in Purcell, Oklahoma, in August 2006AP Photo
Oklahoma Attorney General’s OfficeUnderwood killed 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin after luring her to his apartment[/caption]
Oklahoma Department of CorrectionsUnderwood had a cheeseburger and chicken-fried steak as part of his last meal[/caption]
ReutersUnderwood was executed at 10.14am on Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary[/caption]
On the day of his 45th birthday, Underwood was put to death at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester for the gruesome 2006 murder of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin.
Underwood, whose disturbing crime stemmed from a sick cannibalistic fantasy, made a final, hollow apology to the victim’s family before dying at 10.14am on Thursday.
“I would like to apologize again for all the terrible things that I did,” he muttered, before claiming that executing him on his birthday and days before Christmas was “needlessly cruel” to his family.
“I hate that I did those things, and I wish I could take them back.”
On Wednesday night, Underwood ate his last meal — a cheeseburger, chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, pinto beans, fries with ketchup, and soda — while awaiting the end of his life.
He was given sedatives to ensure compliance during the procedure.
At 10.04 am on Thursday, lethal drugs began coursing through his veins, and he was declared dead at 10:14 a.m, CBS News reports.
Underwood’s death marked the final step in a nearly 18-year legal battle following the unimaginable crime he committed.
In April 2006, Underwood lured Jamie Rose Bolin, his 10-year-old neighbor, into his Purcell apartment, where he brutally beat her with a cutting board, suffocated her, and sexually assaulted her.
He then attempted to decapitate the child before strangling her to death in his bathtub.
Jamie’s remains were found stuffed in a plastic container inside his bedroom.
Upon his arrest, Underwood confessed in chilling detail.
“Go ahead and arrest me … she’s in there. I hit her and chopped her up. I’m going to burn in hell,” he told police.
For Jamie’s family, Underwood’s execution brought a sense of justice, though it could never undo the damage he caused.
“This doesn’t bring our Jamie back, but it does allow the space in our hearts to focus on her and begin the healing process,” said her sister, Lori Pate, who witnessed the execution.
Jamie, affectionately nicknamed “Coppertop,” was remembered by her family as a vibrant and loving child who was robbed of a future filled with memories and milestones.
“She didn’t get to have her firsts, make mistakes, laugh, cry, or celebrate life,” said her aunt, Jessica Stegner.
“That was stolen from her.”
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond praised the execution as a final act of justice.
“This morning, justice was served for Jamie and her family,” he said in a statement.
“I pray that this action brings them a sense of peace as they continue to mourn her loss.”
APUnderwood pictured being escorted out of the courthouse by deputies in Norman, Oklahoma in 2008[/caption]
APThe killer sits with members of his defense team during his formal sentencing in Purcell, Oklahoma, in 2008[/caption]
APUnderwood said his last words strapped in a gurney in the the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary[/caption]
Underwood’s attorneys spent years portraying him as a mentally ill man, citing diagnoses of autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizotypal personality disorder.
But prosecutors — and Jamie’s family — rejected these claims as attempts to shift blame for his calculated and horrific actions, reports CBS News.
“Kevin Underwood wasn’t driven by mental illness—he was driven by sadistic and deviant desires,” prosecutors wrote in opposition to his clemency request.
“This was not the act of an unwell man; it was the deliberate crime of a cold-blooded predator.”
Underwood himself revealed his sinister mindset long before the murder, sharing dark musings in an online blog where he joked about cannibalism and described his unhappiness, USA Today reports.
Underwood’s execution was Oklahoma’s fourth this year and the 25th nationwide.
While it marked the end of his life, Jamie’s family made it clear that their grief will endure.
“This family has already served enough time in pain. We are due for some mercy,” said her aunt.
Oklahoma Attorney General’s OfficeA younger Jamie Rose Bolin pictured playing before she was brutally slain in 2006[/caption]
APJamie’s aunt Linda Chiles pictured talking with the media outside the courthouse following Underwood’s sentencing in 2008[/caption]
How does the death penalty work in Oklahoma?
THE death penalty is legal in Oklahoma and used for crimes like first-degree murder with aggravating factors.
These include child victims, heinous acts, or killing law enforcement.
Executions are primarily carried out via lethal injection, using a three-drug cocktail, though nitrogen hypoxia has been authorized but never used.
Oklahoma has one of the highest execution rates in the U.S., with over 115 executions since 1976 and 33 inmates currently on death row.
The process includes extensive appeals, and clemency is rare.
But the system has faced criticism for botched executions, use of questionable drugs, and wrongful convictions, with 11 death row inmates exonerated since 1976.
Despite controversies, the state continues to apply the death penalty.
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