The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 against recommending clemency on Wednesday for death row inmate Kendrick Simpson.
Simpson, 45, was sentenced to die by lethal injection for fatally shooting Glen Palmer, 20, and Anthony Jones, 19, after an argument at an Oklahoma City nightclub.
“When Kendrick Simpson took my brother’s life, he took all our lives,” said Teleasha Jones, the sister of Anthony Jones.
London Johnson, the sole survivor of the shooting, told the board that a part of him died in the car that day, and he replays the image of the dead bodies and suffering of his “brothers” in his mind.
Simpson’s attorneys said he had post-traumatic stress disorder. But the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office described him as a “monster” who was looking for trouble the night of the murder.
Simpson and two friends headed out to party in the late hours of Jan. 15, 2006, according to court records. Simpson grabbed his AK-style assault rifle despite his friends urging him to leave the weapon at home.
It was after midnight when the three men arrived at the Oklahoma City nightclub Fritzi’s. According to testimony given by one of Simpson’s friends, he walked around the club “like he wanted to fight” before running into Palmer. Simpson and Palmer got into a scuffle after Simpson had threatened to shoot them, the state alleged.
After leaving the club, Simpson and his friends pulled into a nearby 7-Eleven with plans to meet up with some girls. Palmer had also pulled into the gas station to buy cigars, according to case records. Simpson directed his friend, who was driving, to follow Palmer’s vehicle.
After following the victims for several miles, Simpson fired 20 rounds into the other vehicle, killing Palmer and Jones.
Simpson’s friends, Latango Robertson and Jonathan Dalton, pleaded guilty to accessory to murder and were each sentenced to 20 years in prison, but they were both released after serving six years.
Assistant Attorney General Christopher Howard disputed the Simpsons’ attorneys’ claims that if the men had driven to a different gas station, Simpson wouldn’t be facing execution.
“If you didn’t bring a gun that night, we wouldn’t be here. If you didn’t decide to follow them, we wouldn’t be here,” Howard said. “If you didn’t decide to murder multiple people, we wouldn’t be here. We’re all sitting in this room today because of his choices, and because of his choices, Glen and Anthony are buried.”
The judge who presided over Simpson’s trial described him as having no remorse and smirking in court, Brad Clark, general counsel for the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office, told the board.
Simpson’s lawyers told the board that Simpson was sexually abused as a child and his mother was addicted to crack cocaine. That trauma continued into his adulthood after someone shot him five times in New Orleans in 2004, leading to16 surgeries. Then, Hurricane Katrina left Simpson stranded without food or water in New Orleans in 2005.
“Mr. Simpson’s PTSD left him hyper-vigilant, suspicious, and in an extremely fragile physical and mental state as he entered Oklahoma as a displaced person,” Emma Rolls, a federal public defender, said in a press release.
Simpson’s legal team told the board they weren’t asking them to take it easy on their client but to give him a chance at life in prison without parole, the second-harshest punishment he could receive. They also said he still suffers from paranoia today and lives in solitary confinement in prison.
“Kendrick accepts that he must be punished and he accepts that he will die in prison one way or another. This board decides if he will die next month or sometime later,” his defense argued.
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s office argued that Simpson’s PTSD diagnosis didn’t explain his violent and lengthy criminal history. Attorneys for the state argued that the jury heard the diagnosis and still recommended a death sentence.The Attorney General’s office also said Simpson’ methamphetamine use in prison led him to break a TV, an incident Simpson’s attorneys said was caused by paranoid thoughts.
Simpson spoke at the hearing and apologized to the victims’ families and Johnson. He told the board he was ashamed of being a murderer and accepted responsibility.
“I’m not the worst of the worst; I’m not a monster,” Simpson said.
Simpson’s execution is set for Feb. 13. It’s the first execution Oklahoma has scheduled for 2026.
Source: readfrontier.org, Ashlynd Baecht, January 14, 2026
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde