"Oklahoma Executes Double Murderer Despite Last Words Refusal"

Michael Dewayne Smith, convicted of a double slaying in 2002, was executed in Oklahoma after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution. Smith, who maintained his innocence, was put to death for the shooting deaths of Janet Moore and Sharath Pulluru. His attorney argued that Smith was intellectually disabled and heavily influenced by drugs at the time of his confession, but prosecutors portrayed him as a ruthless gang member seeking revenge. This marks the first execution in Oklahoma this year and the 12th since the state resumed executions in 2021.