Bio

Clayton Derrell Lockett was born on November 22, 1975. His mother left when he was very young, and he was raised by his father. His childhood was abusive and unstable, and he was exposed to drugs and crime at an early age.

Murder Story

On the night of June 3, 1999, Bobby Bornt was asleep on the couch inside his home in Perry, Oklahoma. Clayton Lockett, Shawn Mathis, and Alfonzo Lockett kicked in the front door and entered the house. The men immediately attacked Bornt. They beat and kicked him, and Clayton Lockett hit him with a shotgun. After the beating, Bornt’s hands were tied behind his back with duct tape, and he was gagged. The men then searched the house.

While Bornt was restrained, Summer Hair came to the open door. She was pulled inside, hit, and thrown against a wall. One of the men pointed a gun at her head and forced her to call Stephanie Michelle Neiman, who was outside in her pickup truck. When Neiman came inside, she was attacked and forced to give up the keys to her truck. Bornt, Hair, and Neiman were then restrained and placed in a bedroom where Bornt’s nine-month-old son had been sleeping.

Summer Hair was sexually assaulted inside the house. Afterward, the victims were loaded into two pickup trucks. The group left Perry and drove to a remote rural area in Kay County. At the rural location, Hair was sexually assaulted again. Lockett then told Shawn Mathis to dig a grave. Bornt later heard Lockett say, “Someone has got to go.”

Neiman was taken to the hole. When she refused to promise that she would stay silent and not go to the police, Lockett shot her with a shotgun. The gun jammed, so he returned to the truck, fixed it, went back, and shot her again. While Neiman was still alive, Lockett ordered that she be buried. Mathis buried her in the grave. Bornt and Hair were warned that they would be killed if they told anyone what happened.

Lockett and the others later drove Bornt, his child, and Hair back to Bornt’s house. The next day, Bornt and Hair reported the crime to police. Neiman’s pickup and body were later recovered, and Lockett, Mathis, and Alfonzo Lockett were arrested. Lockett was interviewed by police more than once. He eventually confessed to killing Neiman. He was later tried and convicted of first-degree murder and multiple other crimes.

On October 5, 2000, Clayton Lockett was sentenced to death for the murder of Stephanie Neiman. He also received long prison terms for the other crimes connected to the attack. Lockett remained on death row for more than 13 years. He was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on April 29, 2014. His execution drew national attention because the procedure went wrong and took about 43 minutes before he was pronounced dead.

Clayton Derrell Lockett died on April 29, 2014. His case remains known both for the murder of Stephanie Michelle Neiman and for the controversial execution that followed years later.