An Oklahoma death row inmate set to be executed this week says he knows he committed a "horrible crime" when he killed his ex-girlfriend and her infant daughter, but that he doesn't deserve to die. His victims' loved ones say justice is long overdue.
Raymond Eugene Johnson, 52, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday, May 14, for the brutal 2007 murders of 24-year-old Brooke Whitaker and her 7-month-old baby girl Kya. Johnson repeatedly hit Whitaker with a claw hammer before setting her and her Tulsa home on fire.
Kya was killed in the blaze and Whitaker − a mother of four − later died at a hospital of severe burn wounds and head injuries.
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"Raymond Johnson is a heinous murderer who violently attacked and tortured Brooke Whitaker before ultimately setting her and her infant daughter on fire," Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement last month. "Johnson has never taken full accountability for these unconscionable acts, which not only devastated a family but also left three young children without their mother and baby sister."
Johnson has been arguing that he deserves clemency from the death penalty, saying that he's a changed man.
"It's a horrible crime, my worst moments of life," Johnson said at a recent clemency hearing. "There's no versions of that story, just the horrible truth ... (But) my crime doesn't define who I am. That defines a moment I deeply regret."
The clemency board denied his request in a 5-0 vote.
Here's what you need to know about the execution, including more about who Brooke Whitaker and baby Kya were.
When is the execution?
Raymond Eugene Johnson's execution at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester is set for 10 a.m. CT on Thursday, May 14.
If it moves forward, Johnson will be the 11th inmate executed in the U.S. this year and the second in Oklahoma.
What did Raymond Eugene Johnson do?
On June 23, 2007, Raymond Eugene Johnson attacked his ex-girlfriend, Brooke Whitaker, at her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to court records and his own admissions.
Johnson told police that he and Whitaker began arguing, and that she pushed him and grabbed a knife, court records say. Johnson then grabbed a claw hammer and hit her in the head about six times, he told police.
Whitaker was still alive, begged Johnson to get her help and promised not to tell police, he said. Johnson said he was afraid of going back to jail, so he got a gas can and then doused Whitaker and the house with gasoline. He lit the fire and left.
"Johnson made the deliberate decision to kill Brooke and her infant in a way that inflicted maximum suffering," First Assistant Attorney General Amy Ely recently told the clemency board. Members of the board are considering whether to grant Johnson mercy.
"Johnson could have let the baby live without increasing the risk he'd be caught ... Instead, Johnson left Kya to die in flames," Ely told the board.
She said that in some cases, "whether to seek or impose a death penalty is a close call."
"This is not one of those cases," she added.
Angie Short, Brooke Whitaker's aunt, told the board that both Whitaker's and Kya's bodies were so damaged that their loved ones weren't able to view them.
"I cannot stop thinking about the fear and pain Brooke and Kya experienced before they died," she told the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. "We are so grateful Brooke's other children were not in the house that night. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have murdered them all and we would have had a funeral for five."
Who were Brooke Whitaker and her baby Kya?
Brooke Whitaker was a loving 24-year-old mother of four who was known for a contagious laugh and giving out bear hugs, loved ones recently told the parole board. They described Kya as a curly-haired baby who brought joy to her loved ones during her seven months alive.
"I will never forget her hugs," Short said through tears about her niece Brooke. "She would wrap her arms around me so tightly, it was almost painful. I wish more than anything that I could feel her hug just one more time."
Logan Kleck, who was just 7 years old when her mother was murdered, told the board in a letter that when she thinks of her mom and baby sister, she thinks of all that has been lost.
"My mom didn't just miss moments, she missed my entire life," Kleck wrote. "She missed my first day of middle and high school. She missed prom. She didn't get to be there for my first heartbreak or for my first true love. She didn't get to see me walk across the stage at high school graduation. She missed the day I welcomed my son into this world. She didn't get to hold him, and she will not get to hold my second son, either."
As for Kya, Kleck said her baby sister "never got to say her first word or take her first steps."
"She never got to go to kindergarten or lose her first tooth," Kleck wrote. "The chance to grow up was stolen from her."
Carolyn Short, Brooke’s grandmother and Kya’s great-grandmother, said that Brooke was her first grandchild.
“I cannot put into words how deeply I loved her,” she said. “Pure joy does not even come close to describing what she brought into my life. She was the most beautiful baby girl I'd ever seen. A true gift from heaven.”
Not only did Short have to bury a granddaughter and a great-granddaughter, but her daughter − Brooke’s mother Andra − died of a heart attack eight months ago “after 17 years of relentless stress and anxiety, and the constant reopening of wounds caused by a legal process that never seems to end.”
“I watched her heart break, both literally and figuratively,” Short said, “as she waited for justice she never lived to see.”
Kleck said that executing Johnson "will not take away almost 20 years of pain."
"What it will do is finally stop him from continuing to hurt us," she said. "There will be no more hearings, no more news articles, no more updates, no more having his name attached to theirs. It will allow their names to stand alone, for them to be remembered for them, not for what he did to them."
Why does Raymond Johnson believe he should be spared?
At the clemency board hearing, Johnson apologized for killing Brooke and Kya but spent much more time talking about how he's a changed man who has found God and helped others avoid a destructive path.
"I killed two people who I loved dearly," he said, adding that he also believes his death sentence led to his own grandmother's death from heartbreak.
"I'm asking for forgiveness," he said. "Allow me the chance to save more lives, stop more violence, and lead more men down the path of redemption, as well."
Johnson described himself as "a father, a man of God, a teacher, a man who strives to do his best, be his best, and when he falls, he gets back up."
"He never stays down, because not only are my kids learning from my life lessons, but other men in these prison walls are too, and other people outside of prisons, as well," he said. "That's my legacy, and I'd like the chance to continue it as payment for the two precious lives that I couldn't save for myself."
In a 2024 video presented to the board, Johnson's son Kylar said his father has taught him important life lessons.
"I love you, Daddy," he said.
When is the next execution?
The next execution in the U.S. could be later in the day on Thursday.
Texas had been scheduled to execute Edward Lee Busby on Thursday evening for the 2004 robbery and murder of a retired Texas Christian University professor. But on May 8, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay over Busby's intellectual disabilities. The execution could still move forward if the state is successful in appealing that ruling.
But if Busby's execution is stayed indefinitely, then the next execution would be that of Leroy McGill in Arizona on May 20. McGill was convicted of murder after dousing a couple in gasoline and lighting them on fire in 2002.
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter who covers the death penalty, cold case investigations and breaking news for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: He set fire to his ex and her baby. Now Oklahoma is executing him.
