Tulsa Death Row Inmate In Hammer Killing Of Mom And Baby Set For 2026 Execution

Oklahoma officials have locked in May 14, 2026, as the new execution date for Raymond Eugene Johnson, the Tulsa man convicted in 2009 of killing his ex-girlfriend and her 7-month-old daughter in 2007. Johnson has spent more than a decade on death row while his case wound through state and federal appeals, and the new date lands as Oklahoma continues a string of executions this month.

Attorney General Requests New Date

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to set Johnson's execution for May 14, 2026, according to The Oklahoman. The petition, filed on Feb. 12, follows a previously postponed execution warrant for Johnson in 2024.

The 2007 Killings In Tulsa

On June 23, 2007, firefighters entered a burning home in the 6900 block of East Newton Street and found Brooke Whitaker and her 7-month-old daughter, Kya, fatally injured, News On 6 reported. Investigators say Johnson was arrested later the same day in nearby Coweta and admitted to beating Whitaker with a hammer, pouring gasoline through rooms in the house and setting the home on fire. Prosecutors pointed to the deaths of Whitaker and her infant daughter as a key reason they pursued the death penalty.

Conviction, Appeals And Earlier Scheduling

Johnson was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to death, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review his case in November 2019, according to The Oklahoman. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals had previously set an execution date of May 2, 2024, that was later stayed and rescheduled, based on national tracking of death-warrant outcomes by the Death Penalty Information Center.

What Johnson Says And What Comes Next

Johnson has told correspondents and advocates he feels remorse for the killings. "I try to wake up every day and better myself," he said in a 2023 interview posted by Death Penalty Action. If the Court of Criminal Appeals grants the attorney general's petition and issues a death warrant for the requested date, Johnson's attorneys would still have access to the usual avenues for seeking a stay or clemency, and the governor would retain the authority to act before any execution is carried out.