Drummond files emergency petition opposing delay in clemency decision for death row inmate Kevin Underwood
OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 2, 2024) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond today filed an emergency petition to compel the state Pardon and Parole Board to meet Wednesday to determine whether child murderer Kevin Underwood should be recommended clemency. The board announced late last Friday it would delay this week’s clemency hearing in the wake of two board members stepping down.
Drummond, who last month urged the board to reject clemency, noted that the board would still have enough members for a quorum. He has filed a writ of mandamus with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, calling for the board not to delay justice for the brutal attack and murder of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin in 2006.
“Jamie’s family has already waited 18 agonizing years to see justice served,” Drummond said. “Adding further delay is needless and unconscionable. Kevin Underwood is a deeply evil monster whose execution absolutely should be carried out without further setback. I urge Gov. Stitt to ensure justice is served at last in this hideous case.”
In one of the most depraved and gruesome crimes in Oklahoma history, Underwood spent months scheming to abduct, rape and kill his neighbor, a fifth grader, and then give in to his fantasies of cannibalism. Underwood was sentenced to death in 2008.
