Share and Follow
A man convicted of a double murder was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. As he faced his final moments, he addressed his supporters with the words, “I love y’all,” while the families of his victims watched, noting that his smile in the death chamber was the same one that haunted them for over 20 years.
Kendrick Simpson, aged 45, was found guilty of the fatal shootings of Anthony Jones, 19, and Glen Palmer, 20. The tragic incident occurred following a confrontation between Simpson and Palmer at a nightclub in Oklahoma City back in 2006.
Inside the execution chamber, Simpson expressed his gratitude to those who stood by him, saying, “Thank y’all for being here to support me.”
Reverend Don Heath, who served as Simpson’s spiritual adviser, recited scripture throughout the execution, which concluded in under 15 minutes.
A photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Kendrick Simpson on August 11, 2025. He was executed on Thursday, February 12, 2026, for the drive-by shootings that claimed two lives in 2006. (Photo courtesy of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP)
Doctors determined Simpson, who became a published poet behind bars, was unconscious about five minutes in, and later pronounced him dead.
Family members of the victims who attended the execution told The Associated Press they were unsettled by Simpson’s demeanor in the death chamber.
“The same smile that had been tormenting me for 20 years, he still smiled that same smile laying on his deathbed,” said Palmer’s sister, Crystal Allison.
Kendrick Simpson’s execution was carried out at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. (Shepard Sherbell/CORBIS SABA/Corbis via Getty Images)
Attorney General Gentner Drummond wrote in a statement he hoped Simpson’s execution gave the victims’ families “some measure of peace.”
“Justice has been served for Glen Palmer and Anthony Jones. Their young lives were taken tragically and far too soon,” Drummond wrote. “I hope today brings some measure of peace to their families who have endured unimaginable pain for the past 20 years.”
Department of Corrections officials said Simpson’s last meal Wednesday included a bacon cheeseburger, large onion rings and a strawberry milkshake, according to a report from The Oklahoman.
In January 2006, Simpson and his friends followed Palmer and Jones from a nearby gas station and Simpson opened fire into their car, killing the two men, according to prosecutors.
Lawyers argued Simpson, who moved to Oklahoma City from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, had a diagÂnoÂsis of PTSD resultÂing from the colÂlapse of access to basic necesÂsiÂties in the wake of the natural disaster, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Simpson was also a victim of gun violence himself—having been shot five times in November 2004 in a New Orleans drive-by shooting, according to The Oklahoman.
Simpson was allegedly a victim of Hurricane Katrina. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
During a clemency hearing in January, Simpson apologized for the killings and said he does not make excuses.
“I don’t make any excuses,” Simpson said at the time. “I don’t blame others, and they didn’t deserve what happened to them.”
Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal to block the execution.
Simpson’s execution marked the first of the year in Oklahoma, and the second of the year in the U.S.
Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, was put to death in Florida on Tuesday after being convicted of killing a man during a botched armed robbery in 1989.