Man Who Brutally Assaulted and Murdered 10-Year-Old Receives Death Penalty – One America News Network
OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
12:40 PM – Friday, December 20, 2024
In a significant event marking the last execution of the year in the United States, a 45-year-old inmate in Oklahoma was executed by lethal injection on Thursday morning for the 2006 murder of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin.
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The murder was reportedly driven by a “cannibalistic fantasy,” as stated by the perpetrator, Kevin Ray Underwood, who received a death sentence following his conviction.
On the day of Underwood’s execution at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, he also celebrated his 45th birthday.
Lance West, a spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections, confirmed to the Associated Press that Underwood was pronounced dead at 10:14 a.m.
The execution procedure began at 10:04 a.m. Underwood turned to face his family, including his mother, and his legal team. Moments later, he closed his eyes, and his breathing became labored. A physician entered the execution chamber at 10:09 a.m., checked his condition, and pronounced him unconscious. Shortly thereafter, his death was declared.
Oklahoma’s lethal injection process used a combination of three medications: the sedative midazolam, followed by vecuronium bromide to induce paralysis, and potassium chloride to stop the heart.
The state has also recently approved nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method in light of ethical concerns regarding the effectiveness and humanity of its lethal injection protocol.
In the death chamber, restrained on a gurney, Underwood expressed remorse to both his family and the Bolin family “for all the terrible things [he] did.”
However, the 45-year-old sexually violent offender also portrayed himself as a victim, labeling the authorities as “cruel.”
“The decision to execute me on my birthday and just six days before Christmas was a needlessly cruel thing to do to my family,” Underwood stated, “but I’m very sorry for what I did, and I wish I could take it back.”
Jamie Bolin, the innocent 10-year-old girl, was lured into Underwood’s apartment in 2006, as her family lived next door.
Underwood admitted to FBI agents that he fantasized about “abducting a person, sexually molesting them, eating their flesh, and disposing of their remains.”
After luring Jamie in, he violently struck her with a large chopping board before torturing, suffocating, and sexually assaulting her. Although he planned to consume her remains due to his cannibalistic fantasies, he stated that he abandoned those plans but admitted to “mutilating” her body post-mortem.
He also revealed to detectives that he nearly decapitated her in his bathtub.
“This doesn’t bring our Jamie back, but it does allow the space in our hearts to focus on her and allows the healing process to begin,” remarked Lori Pate, Jamie Bolin’s sister.
In a recent hearing before the state’s Pardon and Parole Board, Underwood offered his condolences to the victim’s family.
“I would like to apologize to the victim’s family, my own family, and everyone in that room today who had to hear the horrific details of what I did,” Underwood stated via video from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
His legal team had previously contended that Underwood should not face execution due to his “extensive history of abuse and severe mental health conditions,” which included autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, panic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and other deviant sexual paraphilias.
Connie Underwood, his mother, also pleaded with the board to show mercy to her son.
“I can’t imagine the heartache the family of that precious girl faces every single day,” she expressed. “I wish we had understood his suffering before this tragedy unfolded.”
In response, prosecutors opposed Underwood’s plea for mercy in their letter.
“Whatever mental disorders led Underwood to abduct, beat, suffocate, sexually assault, and nearly decapitate Jamie cannot be attributed to depression, anxiety, or autism… Underwood is a threat because he is intelligent, organized, and motivated by deviant sexual desires that involve the harm and abuse of others.”
They also emphasized that many individuals grow up severely abused—both sexually and physically—developing certain disorders or mental health issues without resorting to violence, particularly against children.
Underwood’s legal team later filed an urgent appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking a stay of execution by arguing for a full hearing before the five-member parole board and claiming that the board had violated both state law and Underwood’s rights by delaying the hearing after two members resigned. Their attempts were unsuccessful.
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