OKLAHOMA CITY – Democratic Sen. Nikki Nice of Oklahoma City will join the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, to plead for mercy in the clemency case of Kendrick Simpson, a death row prisoner whose execution is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 12.
The plea for clemency will be held at the State Capitol in Room G5 at 10:30 a.m. and will precede the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board clemency hearing on Jan. 14, where supporters argue that crucial evidence about Simpson’s background and mental health was not fully presented during his 2007 trial.
According to the coalition, Sen. Nice will be joined by speakers including Emma Rolls, Oklahoma Western Capital Habeas Unit chief and attorney for Simpson; Dr. Elizabeth Overman, the coalition’s chair; Sen. Mary B. Boren, D-Norman; and Randy Bauman, ACLU of Oklahoma of counsel and coalition executive board member.
During Simpson’s trial in 2007, the jury “did not hear the full extent of Kendrick’s background and diagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),” even though it directly impacted Simpson and led to the tragic crime for which he received a death sentence, according to the coalition.
At the time of the offense, Simpson had recently lost his home in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans after surviving Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which caused widespread devastation and displacement.
The natural disaster led to a “complete collapse of access to basic necessities,” and Simpson was stranded on the I-10 bridge without food or water before later seeking shelter in the New Orleans Convention Center, where as many as 25,000 people were stranded without basic services, according to media reports cited by the coalition.
Simpson entered the crisis already debilitated after being shot five times in a 2004 drive-by shooting, an attack he faced for refusing to harm another person.
He underwent 16 surgeries over seven months, and the trauma exacerbated his PTSD, leaving him “hyper-vigilant, suspicious, and in an extremely fragile physical and mental state” as he arrived in Oklahoma as a displaced person, according to the coalition.
On Jan. 16, 2006, strangers confronted Simpson at a nightclub because he was unknowingly wearing a hat whose color represented rivalry to their gang.
He thought he had been followed and shot at their vehicle.
He reacted with “panic and fear for his life” when he shot and killed Glen Palmer, 20, and Anthony Jones, 19, the men who had confronted him, according to the coalition.
Despite the availability of evidence, the court barred testimony about Simpson’s PTSD, claiming it was unrelated to guilt or intent, and jurors were not informed about the specific traumas he endured during Hurricane Katrina.
Supporters argue that the jury responsible for sentencing Simpson to death lacked significant context about his mental state and the dissociative effects of PTSD, which might have influenced the ruling had it been fully considered.
Since surviving Katrina and his subsequent imprisonment, Simpson has embraced education and encouraged others to resist pathways toward incarceration, according to the coalition.
Dr. Overman stated, “‘Each one of us is more than the worst thing that we have ever done.’ Given the opportunity, each of us will make a valuable contribution to society. Mr. Simpson has taken advantage of every chance available to him under imprisoned conditions to develop well beyond who he was. He has emerged from traumas that rendered him afflicted with acute PTSD to succeed in the highly demanding world of higher education. He has also influenced members of his family, who were destined to follow him to prison, to take advantage of the opportunities education affords. He has become a high achieving role model recognized for his award-winning poetry.”
A psychologist quoted in The Oklahoman in 2012 noted, “Mr. Simpson could have had a dissociative episode on the night of the offense and suffered a flashback,” adding that “PTSD … is not a disorder that only affects war veterans.”
Although the jurors did not have access to all the facts at the time, supporters argue the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board can now bestow mercy by reevaluating the case in light of Simpson’s trauma and mental health history.
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