Number of protestors dwindles for Smith execution

Apr. 4—No signs and no tears.

A small group gathered outside Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on Thursday, April 4, during the execution of Michael Dewayne Smith, 41.

It's the smallest group since executions have resumed in Oklahoma, with only seven people gathered. They held no signs or placards, but periodically prayed for Smith as well as the two people he was convicted of killing.

"We pray for the victims that they be granted eternal rest," they said during a group reading.

An Oklahoma County jury convicted Smith in 2003 for the murders of Janet Moore, 40, and Sharath Pulluru, 24, on Feb. 22, 2002.

Moore was shot and murdered in her apartment and Pulluru was shot and murdered at a convenience store.

Smith maintained his innocence in a statement to the News-Capital.

None of Smith's family or friends were among those outside the walls of OSP to protest against the execution.

During the pending execution of then-Death Row inmate Julius Jones in September 2021, several hundred people gathered outside Oklahoma State Penitentiary to protest Jones' pending execution, until Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted Jones' sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole shortly before the execution was to be carried out.

Following the commutation of Jones' death sentence, many of the demonstrators said at the time they would return to protest every additional execution.

With only seven protestors outside OSP during Smith's execution, it became obvious that vow had been forgotten.

"Where are they?"

After the execution, Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood asked the question outside OSP in the demonstration area.

"It's sad," Hood said. "I told Michael Smith he matters to us. It seems he doesn't matter to many people in Oklahoma."

Hood, who described himself as Smith's spiritual adviser, had stood by Smith inside the execution chamber as the inmate lay strapped to a gurney, both prior to the execution and while it was carried out. In his role as spiritual adviser, Hood has witnessed the executions of a number of inmates.

"It's disturbing every single time. It's horrific every single time," Hood said.

When he entered the execution chamber, he walked up to Smith and made the sign of the cross on his head in anointing oil, said Hood.

As he recited part of the 23rd Psalm, Hood said he saw tears falling down the side of Smith's face.

"Michael was nodding his head in affirmation," Hood said. He said he watched tears continue to stream down the side of Smith's face during the execution process. He said it's the first time he's witnessed an inmate sob as the inmate was being executed.

Hood said in his opinion, the execution process by lethal injection took longer than it should have.

"It's hard to see someone that you love, that you care about, experience such a thing," he said.

Hood said when the curtains first opened in the execution chamber and he could see those who were gathered to witness it, he saw Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and their eyes momentarily locked.

Hood said he strongly disagrees with the state's attorney general on a number of issues, but the AG has won his respect on one point.

"At least Gentner Drummond has the courage to attend these executions," Hood said. "He refuses to let these happen without experiencing it personally.

"We don't see the governor," said Hood. "We don't see the juries, the judges, the Clemency Board."

With no realistic expectation that Smith's sentence might be commuted by Gov. Stitt, those who were protesting the execution outside OSP Thursday spent much of their time in prayer

Father Bryan Brooks of the Church of St. Benedict of Broken Arrow led a small contingent that included two Bishop Kelley High School students, the campus minister and the minister's wife.

They were joined by Father Khiet Nguyen, the prison chaplain at OSP, and Emily Barnes, of Eufaula, who heads a program called Hooked On Justice.

During their time outside OSP on Thursday morning, they prayed and read a liturgy out loud.

Participants included Bishop Kelly High School students Catherine Sousa and Arabela Denis, Bishop Kelley Campus Minister Phillip Griffith and his wife, Alondra Griffith, along with Nguyen and Barnes.

Phillip Griffith said he's head of the Pro Life Club at Bishop Kelley. He said the group is pro life from conception to natural death.

"We're just standing up for the dignity of all human life," he said.

"We pray for the victims of the crime; we pray for the souls of the family and pray for the man who committed the crime."

Following the execution, Hood said some who are opposed to the death penalty find encouragement because the number of executions nationwide are declining. That doesn't feel like any sort of success to him, he said.

"We've got to keep up the fight," said Hood. "I don't want to hear anything about success as long as these executions are happening."