Scott Dawn Carpenter was born on January 2, 1975, in the United States. 

On February 6, 1994, Scott Dawn Carpenter entered a convenience store near Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma. He had just filled his pickup truck with gasoline. Inside the store, Carpenter placed a sandwich, soft drink, and chewing tobacco near the cash register. He then attacked the store owner, 56-year-old A.J. Kelley, stabbing him in the neck. Kelley's body was discovered in the minnow room of the store.

As Carpenter was leaving the store, two men entered, one being a retired Oklahoma City police detective. They saw what happened and chased Carpenter as he drove away. The men wrote down his vehicle's license plate number. He was caught about an hour later.

During his trial, Carpenter pleaded no contest to first-degree murder and asked for the death penalty, expressing that he did not want to spend decades in prison. He did not have a prior criminal record. After his sentencing, Carpenter was given the death penalty by lethal injection.

On May 8, 1997, Carpenter had a final conversation with his mother for 80 minutes before his execution. His last meal included barbecued beef ribs and pecan pie. Before he was executed, Carpenter made a final statement warning others not to follow a wrong path in life. He also wrote an apology to the family of his victim.

Carpenter was pronounced dead 11 minutes after the lethal injection was administered. As the drugs took effect, he began to gasp and shake, followed by spasms and gasps for air. He stopped moving three minutes later. The warden noted that his young age and strong physique may have affected how he reacted to the execution drugs.