McALESTER, Okla., May 7 -- Oklahoma executed a 22-year-old convicted killer who voluntarily dropped legal challenges to the lethal injection. Scott Carpenter was declared dead at 12:22 a.m. CDT today.
He became the youngest convict and the ninth inmate executed by Oklahoma since the state restored the death penalty in 1977. Carpenter admitted he murdered a Lake Eufaula, Okla., bait shop owner in 1994. He voluntarily forfeited his rights to appeal and asked for an execution date to be set. Defense attorney Deborah Reheard says she would have been able to contact an appeals court judge at a moment's notice if her client had changed his mind. In a five-hour hearing Feb. 13, Carpenter persuaded a district judge that he wanted to be executed and that he was competent to make the decision. Carpenter wanted his last meal late Wednesday to include a plate of 'traditional Southern cooking,' including barbecue beef ribs, corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad and hot rolls served with lemonade. Carpenter pleaded no contest to murder charges in the death of A.J. Kelley, the 56-year-old owner of the bait store. Kelley was stabbed in the throat Feb. 6, 1994, and was robbed of $37 worth of gasoline. ---
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