Trigger Warning: The article contains details of child abuse and murder. Reader discretion is advised.
A 35-year-old death row inmate was executed on Thursday night for the 2008 killing of a toddler. Blaine Milam was pronounced dead at 6:40 pm CDT after he was given a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. His last-minute appeal for a stay of execution was denied earlier that day.
According to a document obtained by Fox 4, the Supreme Court of the United States denied the request to stay the execution and the petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
Texas-based Milam was convicted in 2010 at the age of 18 after he was found guilty of killing his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter. In 2008, he and his girlfriend, Jesseca Carson, called the cops to their home, where the toddler was found dead with human bite marks on her body and signs of physical assault.
Both of them gave different reasons for her death. At different points, they said that the child was found injured or that she had eaten insulation. The authorities initially treated them as grieving parents, but things took a twist when Carson later told the investigators that Milam told her that the toddler was “possessed by a demon” because “God was tired of her lying to Milam.”
On the other hand, Milam accused her of the gruesome murder and claimed that she was the one who claimed that the child was possessed. The child’s mother was tried separately and was found guilty of helping Milam. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The prosecutors argued that Milam mercilessly beat the toddler with a hammer. He also reportedly bit her, strangled, and mutilated her over a period of 30 hours. The autopsy report revealed that the deceased child had multiple skull fractures along with broken arms, legs, ribs, and numerous bite marks. She had so many fatal injuries that it became impossible to determine a specific cause of death.
In his final moments, Blaine Milam talked about Jesus. As he sat in his death chamber, he reportedly said, “If any of you would like to see me again, I implore all of you no matter who you are to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and we will meet again,” according to Associated Press.
“I love you all. Bring me home, Jesus.” — These were his last words before he was put to death.
Over the years, several requests to stay his executions were made, largely related to his intellectual abilities. It was argued that his highest education level was fourth grade, which means he was intellectually disabled and thus ineligible for execution. His attorneys also argued that his conviction was based on “now-discredited” bite mark evidence and other unreliable DNA evidence.
The claims that he was intellectually disabled were rejected during previous court hearings. Regarding the bite mark and DNA evidence argument, the attorney general’s office said that even if it’s left aside, there was other evidence pointing to his guilt, including a confession he made to a nurse after his arrest.
Milam’s execution is the fifth in Texas this year.
