Sharath Babu Pulluru, a 22-year-old man, was an ambitious and kind-hearted engineering student with a promising future. Originally from Andhra Pradesh, India, he was the first in his family to come to the United States to pursue an education. His family described him as a "loving son, brother, and uncle" and the "life of our family." His brother, Harish, later recalled waiting in a phone booth in India for Sharath's calls after he moved to America.
To support himself while studying, Sharath worked part-time at the A&Z Food Mart, a convenience store in Oklahoma City.
On the evening of February 22, 2002, Sharath was doing a friend a favor by covering his shift at the store. It was a decision that placed him in the path of a ruthless killer. That same day, Michael Dewayne Smith, a 19-year-old member of the Oak Grove Posse gang, had already murdered a 41-year-old woman named Janet Moore at her apartment. Smith was seeking revenge, mistakenly believing Moore's son was a police informant. Already on the run for a previous killing in 2001, Smith continued his violent spree.
About an hour after killing Moore, Smith walked into the A&Z Food Mart around 7:30 p.m. He was targeting a clerk who he believed had spoken disrespectfully to reporters about a fellow gang member who had been killed during a robbery at a different store. However, the person Smith was looking for was not there. Instead, he found Sharath, who had no connection to the other store or the gang. In a tragic case of mistaken identity, Smith held Sharath at gunpoint. He shot the young student multiple times and then set his body on fire before fleeing. According to Smith's later confession, Sharath's last words were, "What did I do?"
Police were already searching for Michael Smith in connection with the 2001 murder of Otis Payne Jr. Two days after the double murders of Sharath and Janet Moore, Smith was arrested. During questioning, he eventually confessed to all three killings. Prosecutors described him as a "ruthless" killer. In 2003, a jury convicted Smith of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Sharath and Moore. He was also found guilty of first-degree burglary, robbery with a firearm, and first-degree arson. He received two death sentences. The following year, he was tried and convicted of second-degree murder for the killing of Otis Payne Jr. and sentenced to life in prison.
For more than two decades, Smith remained on death row, filing numerous appeals that were ultimately denied. He later recanted his confession, claiming he was high on drugs at the time and had no memory of the events or his arrest. In a clemency hearing just a month before his execution, he told the victims' families he had the "deepest sorrows" but maintained his innocence, stating, "I didn't commit these crimes. I didn't kill these people." The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 against recommending clemency.
On the morning of April 4, 2024, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a final appeal, Michael Dewayne Smith, 41, was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He had no last words. Following the execution, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said, "Sharath, a bright young man with a generous spirit, was an inspiration to his family... [He was] murdered simply because [he was] in the wrong place at the wrong time." Sharath's family, who did not attend the execution, released a statement. "Sharath was the life of our family," they wrote. "We are a very close family and his sudden death in such a violent manner has affected our family's lives every day since. He will forever live in our hearts. We are thankful justice was served today."
