OKlahoma | Group pushes for clemency for death row inmate who AG says ‘hunted’ his victims

OKLAHOMA CITY — Lawmakers and the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty are calling for a man on death row to be granted clemency.

Kendrick Simpson was convicted in 2006 for the double murder in the drive-by shooting of Glen Palmer and Antony Jones. Prosecutors said Simpson fired approximately 20 shots at his victims, and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond recently said that the death row inmate "hunted his victims" and "never demonstrated genuine remorse."

"Kendrick Simpson hunted his victims, executed them without hesitation, and then boasted about what he had done," Drummond said in a statement released in late December. "The families left behind have endured unimaginable pain, and nothing in Simpson’s decades on death row has shown that he deserves the mercy he refused to give to others."

On Tuesday, some state lawmakers, the Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and others will rally to argue that Simpson didn't get a fair trial.

Elizabeth Overman, president of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, argued that Simpson was not well represented and that his background and diagnosed PTSD were overlooked.

"He was put on a path to the death penalty because he was not well represented," she said.

Overman also highlighted Simpson's upbringing in New Orleans' Ninth Ward, his experiences during Hurricane Katrina, and his exposure to violence and trauma.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board's clemency hearing for Simpson is scheduled for Jan. 13. His execution date is scheduled for Feb. 12.

Source: koco.com, Dacoda Wahpekeche, January 6, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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