Oklahoma to carry out 25th and final execution in U.S. this year

An Oklahoma man who killed a 10-year-old girl is to be put to death on Thursday in the 25th and final execution in the United States this year.

Kevin Ray Underwood, who turns 45 on Thursday, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 10:00 am Central Time (1600 GMT) at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Underwood, a grocery store clerk, was convicted of the 2006 rape and murder of Jamie Rose Bolin, the daughter of his neighbors in the town of Purcell, 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City.

Bolin was beaten with a wooden kitchen cutting board and then suffocated.

Underwood confessed to the murder and expressed regret during a clemency hearing on Friday before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.

"I recognize that although I do not want to die, I recognize that I deserve to for what I did," he said. "I would like to apologize to the victim's family and to my own family."

The board denied clemency by a 3-0 vote, a decision that was welcomed by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

"I am pleased the board voted to deny clemency for this deeply evil monster and ensured that justice will be delivered for Jamie Rose Bolin," Drummond said in a statement.

"Jamie's family has waited 18 excruciating years for justice that finally will be carried out when this murderer is executed."

There have been 24 executions of convicted murderers in the United States this year. Three used the controversial method of nitrogen gas while the rest relied on lethal injection.

The midwestern state of Indiana carried out its first execution in 15 years on Wednesday.

Joseph Corcoran, 49, who was convicted of murdering his brother and three other men, was put to death by lethal injection at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

Indiana paused executions in 2009 because it was unable to obtain the necessary drugs, with pharmaceutical companies reluctant to be associated with capital punishment.

According to an October Gallup poll, 53 percent of Americans are in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder. Forty-three percent are opposed while four percent have no opinion.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while six others -- Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee -- have moratoriums in place.

© Agence France-Presse