Clemency denied for death row inmate convicted of two killings

OKLAHOMA CITY — Michael Dewayne Smith is convicted of shooting and killing two people in separate shootings in Oklahoma City more than two decades ago, and prosecutors say he wanted to kill more.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board decision Wednesday paves the way for his lethal injection next month.

Smith broke down in tears in a video to the board and said he was high on drugs and doesn’t even remember getting arrested.

Appearing in a video interview from death row with his hands shackled and wearing a red prison jumpsuit, Smith expressed his “deepest apologies and deepest sorrows to the families” of the victims, but denied that he was responsible.

Prosecutors say Smith was a ruthless gang member who killed both victims in misguided acts of revenge and confessed his involvement in the killings to police and two other people.

They claim he killed Janet Moore because he was looking for her son, who he mistakenly thought had told police about his whereabouts.

Later that day, prosecutors say Smith killed Sharath Pulluru, a convenience store clerk who Smith believed had disrespected his gang during an interview with a newspaper reporter.

Smith’s attorney, Mark Henricksen, argued that Smith is intellectually disabled, a condition worsened by years of heavy drug use, and that his life should be spared and he should be allowed to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Henricksen said Smith was in a PCP-induced haze when he confessed to police