Raymond Johnson, 52, received lethal injection in Oklahoma on Thursday, almost 20 years after conviction for murdering his ex-girlfriend and her 7-month-old daughter. Prison officials at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester pronounced him dead at 10:12 a.m. after a three-drug protocol.
Details of the 2007 Murders
The killings occurred in June 2007 at Brooke Whitaker’s Tulsa home. Following an early morning dispute, Johnson struck Whitaker, 24, repeatedly in the head with a metal claw hammer. The attack fractured her skull and caused more than 20 lacerations.
Despite grave injuries, Whitaker stayed conscious and begged Johnson to spare her life and that of her daughter Kya, asleep in a bedroom. Documents from Johnson’s clemency hearing note she pleaded for him to call 911, allow her mother to retrieve the baby, and consider her other children, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office.
Johnson then grabbed a gas can, poured gasoline on Whitaker and throughout the house, lit a dishtowel, tossed it at her, and escaped. Whitaker died from head trauma and smoke inhalation, while Kya succumbed to severe burns.
Legal Proceedings and Clemency Bid
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond described Johnson as “a cruel murderer who inflicted unimaginable pain and suffering on his victims.” Johnson’s legal team skipped a final U.S. Supreme Court appeal. Earlier challenges, citing illegal arrest, coerced confession, and improper guilt admission by his trial attorney, all failed.
In April, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board unanimously rejected clemency. During the hearing, Johnson expressed remorse to the victims’ family, insisting he had transformed. “I apologize. No excuses, no justifications, a sincere apology. And to know that it’s sincere, look at my actions. Look at my life. Look how I’ve changed. I’m living a remorseful life. I’m living it,” he stated.
Whitaker’s eldest daughter, Logan Kleck, opposed clemency in a letter to the board. “Executing him will not give me my mom or sister back, it will not take away almost 20 years of pain. What it will do is finally stop him from continuing to hurt us,” she wrote.
Prior Conviction
Johnson also served nine years of a 20-year sentence for a 1996 manslaughter conviction. This execution marks the second in Oklahoma this year and the 11th across the nation.
