Utah has carried out its first execution in 14 years by executing Taberon Honie.
In the early hours of Thursday, August 8, Taberon Honie was executed by lethal injection at the Utah State Correctional Facility. Honie, who was 48 years old, had spent more than 25 years on death row.
Executions are a rare occurrence in Utah. The last execution in the state took place in 2010, when Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad.
On the morning of August 7, a small group of protesters gathered outside the Capitol to call for an end to capital punishment in Utah. Later that evening, another group gathered in a “free speech zone” far outside the prison.
Honie’s crime dates back to July 1998, when he broke into the home of his ex-girlfriend’s mother, Claudia Benn. He sexually assaulted and murdered Benn, and also assaulted a child who was present that evening.
Honie was sentenced to death the following year and has been appealing the decision ever since. In his final weeks, he made several requests for clemency to Utah’s parole board, all of which were denied.
Six other men remain on Utah’s death row.