Oklahoma carried out the execution of a man found guilty of murdering his former girlfriend and her 7-month-old daughter almost two decades ago.
Raymond Johnson, aged 52, was declared dead at 10:12 a.m. Thursday following a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, according to prison authorities. He received the death penalty for the killings of 24-year-old Brooke Whitaker and her infant daughter, Kya, in June 2007.
Expressing remorse while restrained on a gurney in the death chamber, Johnson addressed the victims’ family, seeking forgiveness for the pain he caused. Johnson’s spiritual advisor, Kurt Borgmann, recited religious verses during the 11-minute execution, where Johnson shed a tear before being declared unconscious by a doctor.
One of Whitaker’s aunts, Angie Short, criticized the delays in the execution process, mentioning that Whitaker’s mother passed away around five months after the originally scheduled execution in May 2024.
Prosecutors detailed that Johnson and Whitaker had a dispute at her residence in Tulsa, leading to Johnson striking her multiple times with a metal tool, causing severe injuries. Johnson then set Whitaker and the house on fire, resulting in Whitaker’s death from head injuries and smoke inhalation and Kya’s death from burns.
Despite attempts to appeal his execution in earlier court proceedings, Johnson’s lawyers did not file a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Pardon and Parole Board denied Johnson clemency in April, where Johnson expressed regret and claimed to have changed.
Whitaker’s family supported the lethal injection, stating it would finally put an end to their prolonged suffering. Johnson, who had a prior manslaughter conviction, became the second person executed in Oklahoma this year and the 11th in the nation.
