Lethal injection is back! After 14 years without executions in Utah

• Utah reinstates the death penalty
• After fourteen years, the state made a decision
• What crime did the inmate commit?

The state of Utah, in the United States, carried out the death penalty by lethal injection early this morning.

This marks the first execution in the state in fourteen years and comes 25 years after the inmate was sentenced.

According to a statement from Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, the inmate executed this morning was 48-year-old Taberon Dave Honie.

He was convicted for murdering his ex-girlfriend’s mother in front of her three grandchildren, as reported by EFE.

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«The state of Utah approached the exercise of its power and the responsibilities that come with it with the seriousness and solemnity that an act of this nature deserves,» explained the attorney general when announcing the execution.

«We hope that the enforcement of the law will serve as a deterrent to other heinous crimes,» Sean Reyes emphasized.

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«And we pray that it provides some degree of comfort to those who have been waiting for justice for decades,» he added.

According to local media, about two dozen people protested outside the penitentiary against the execution, as reported by the agency.

How was the execution carried out?

Honie was pronounced dead at 12:25 a.m., Mountain Time, in an execution that proceeded as planned and lasted about 17 minutes.

He tapped his foot on the ground and quietly said «I love you» to his family members who were watching from a witness chamber.

After being administered a lethal injection of two doses of pentobarbital, according to The Associated Press.

Honie let out a gasp as the drug flowed through the intravenous lines in both arms, and his torso jerked off the table. He then remained still for several minutes before dying, as reported.

What were Taberon Dave Honie’s last words?

Utah murderer who killed woman is put to death by lethal injection in the state’s first execution since 2010: After decades of failed appeals, Honie’s execution warrant was signed in June despite defense objections to the planned lethal drug. https://t.co/RQgQ9OOLuI pic.twitter.com/2LQ6lIy35x

— Janie Johnson – America is Exceptional (@jjauthor) August 8, 2024

Taberon Dave Honie’s last words were: «From the beginning, if this is necessary for you to heal, let’s do it.»

«If they tell you that you can’t change, don’t listen to them. To all my brothers and sisters here: keep changing. I love you all. Take care.»

Honie, who grew up on the Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona, spent the evening with his daughter and other close relatives before the execution.

His last meal was a cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. With information from EFE and AP.

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