Michael Dewayne Smith was executed in Oklahoma on April 4, 2024, more than two decades after he was convicted of killing two people in separate shootings in Oklahoma City. Smith, 41, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m. He was the first person executed in Oklahoma in 2024 and the 12th since the state resumed executions in 2021.
The case dated back to February 22, 2002, when prosecutors said Smith killed Janet Moore, 41, and Sharath Babu Pulluru, 22, in two separate shootings. Authorities argued the killings were tied to misguided acts of revenge and gang-related violence. Moore was killed because Smith was allegedly looking for her son, while Pulluru, a convenience store clerk, was targeted after Smith believed he had disrespected a deceased gang member.
Investigators built the case around Smith’s confession, witness testimony and the sequence of the two fatal shootings. Prosecutors described Smith as a dangerous gang member who killed people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. At trial, jurors found him guilty of the murders, and he was sentenced to death for both killings.
Smith’s defense continued to challenge the case for years. His attorneys argued that his confession was unreliable because he was under the influence of drugs during questioning, and they also raised claims related to intellectual disability. Smith maintained during his clemency hearing that he did not commit the murders, telling the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board that he had no memory of killing Moore or Pulluru.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4–1 against recommending clemency in March 2024, clearing the way for the execution. Prosecutors opposed mercy, arguing that Smith remained a danger and that the evidence supported the convictions. His final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was also denied on the morning of the execution.
Smith did not request a last meal, according to reports from the execution. When asked whether he had any final words, he declined, with the Associated Press reporting that his response was, “Nah, I’m good.” A spiritual adviser was present with him in the death chamber at his request.
Family members of Janet Moore witnessed the execution and later said justice had been served. For the victims’ families, the execution marked the end of a 22-year legal process that began with two killings in Oklahoma City and moved through trial, appeals, clemency arguments and final court review. For Oklahoma, the case was another chapter in the state’s resumed use of capital punishment after years of legal and procedural controversy surrounding lethal injection.
