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A Texas man was executed Thursday for murdering his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter in what prosecutors described as a brutal, 30-hour “exorcism.”
Blaine Milam, 35, was convicted of killing 13-month-old Amora Carson in December 2008 after attempting to expel a demon from her body inside his trailer in Rusk County, east of Dallas, according to the Associated Press.
He was pronounced dead by lethal injection at 6:40 p.m. at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
The Associated Press reported that prison officials said Milam appeared anxious when he arrived at the Huntsville Unit prison early Thursday afternoon, adding he said he had a headache. He was then placed into a small holding cell adjacent to the death chamber.
When asked if he wished to make a final statement, Milam thanked his supporters and the prison chaplaincy for opening its faith-based programs to death row inmates.
“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,” Milam said from the death chamber gurney. “I love you all. Bring me home, Jesus.”
The lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital started flowing into his right hand and left arm at 6:19 p.m. local time.
The AP reported that Milam grunted and gasped once before snoring quietly. Nearly two minutes later, all movement and sounds stopped and Milam was pronounced dead.
Prosecutors said Milam beat the toddler with a hammer, then strangled, bit and mutilated her.
“Amora was subjected to unspeakable violence over the course of 30 hours,” prosecutors wrote in court filings, noting the child suffered skull fractures, broken bones and dozens of bite marks.
Milam maintained his innocence over the years, though his appeals were repeatedly denied. He claimed his then-girlfriend, Jesseca Carson, insisted the child was possessed and that he only followed her lead.
Carson was later convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole.
His attorneys argued he should be spared, citing unreliable bite-mark evidence and questions about his intellectual disability. His execution was scheduled in 2019 and 2021 but delayed as courts reviewed those claims.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled the execution should proceed, and the Board of Pardons and Paroles denied his clemency request.
The AP reported that Milam’s trial was moved to Montgomery County, more than 140 miles south, because of intense publicity.
Texas remains the nation’s leading death-penalty state.
Fox News Digital’s Christina Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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