A man sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of a 10-year-old girl is expected to be put to death in the US state of Oklahoma (south); it is the latest execution scheduled to take place in the US this year.

Kevin Underwood, who turns 45 today, is expected to be executed early this morning (local time).

If the execution does take place, it will be the 4th in the state and the 25th and last in the country in 2024. Nearly all have been done using lethal injectable chemicals, except for three in Alabama (southeast) using asphyxiation by inhalation of nitrogen, a highly controversial method.

The man was sentenced to the death penalty after being found guilty of beating, sexually assaulting and murdering Jamie Rose Bolin, daughter of neighbors in Purcell, south of the state capital Oklahoma City.

Underwood, who was 26 when he committed the crime, had invited the little girl to his apartment to play with his hamster.

He later described to authorities how he had developed a desire to abduct a person, sexually assault them and consume their flesh. To fulfill this sick fantasy he had purchased, in the two months before the murder, special meat preparation materials and a plastic tub for his victim’s body.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states. In six others (Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee) a moratorium on executions is in place by virtue of decisions by their governors.