OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (TCN) — A man on death row died by lethal injection Thursday, 18 years after he suffocated a 10-year-old girl and had cannibalistic fantasies about eating her body.
According to The Associated Press, Kevin Ray Underwood’s execution process began at 10:04 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19. He became unconscious minutes later, then was declared deceased at 10:14 a.m. Underwood was sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of Jamie Rose Bolin.
Dec. 19 was also Underwood’s 45th birthday. He reportedly said, “The decision to execute me on my birthday and six days before Christmas was a needlessly cruel thing to do to my family. But I’m very sorry for what I did and I wish I could take it back.”
The Oklahoman reports prior to the injection Underwood apologized for “all the terrible things I did,” adding, “I hate that I did those things, and I wish I could take them back.”
Underwood petitioned for clemency, but the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board rejected his request on Dec. 13. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said following the decision, “I am pleased the board voted to deny clemency for this deeply evil monster and ensured that justice will be delivered for Jamie Rose Bolin. Jamie’s family has waited 18 excruciating years for justice that finally will be carried out when this murderer is executed.”
According to court documents, Underwood and Bolin lived in the same apartment complex, and Bolin was often left at home alone because of her father’s work schedule. Bolin went missing April 12, 2006, after she played at the library with her friend, but neighbors told investigators that Underwood was likely the last person to see her alive.
Investigators obtained a warrant to search Underwood’s apartment, and while inside, a detective opened a plastic container and saw a shirt that matched the one Bolin was wearing when she disappeared. Underwood told the detective he put Bolin’s body in the container after he “hit her and chopped her up.” He was immediately arrested and brought into custody.
During an interview with FBI agents, Underwood said he “had recently developed a desire to abduct a person, sexually molest them, eat their flesh, and dispose of their remains.”
He believed Bolin was a “convenient victim,” so on the day of her killing, he invited her into his apartment to play with his pet rat. He hit her over the head with a wood cutting board, then suffocated her. Underwood reportedly tried to have sex with Bolin’s corpse and later attempted to decapitate her in his bathtub, but he was “unsuccessful at that task as well.”
The autopsy showed Bolin sustained bruises on her body and a deep incision in her neck. Her cause of death was listed as asphyxiation.
During the punishment phase of Underwood’s trial, his defense team brought experts in to testify about his mental health. The Oklahoman reports he was diagnosed with autism, and an expert said, “He ultimately lost his ability to discern fantasy from reality.”
The prosecution’s expert agreed with that doctor but explained why he believed Underwood “constituted a continuing threat to society.” The jury determined the “heinous nature of the killing warranted the death sentence.”
After the execution, Drummond released a statement saying, “Justice for Jamie finally was served this morning with the execution of the depraved murderer who took her away from her family and loved ones.”
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