Death Penalty News

Uttar Pradesh: Man sentenced to death for killing cousin in superstition-driven sacrifice According to local sources, the convict murdered his 10-year-old cousin believing that a human sacrifice would cure his ailing son.  A local court in Bahraich has awarded the death penalty to a man for sacrificing a 10-year-old child in a superstitious ritual. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the convict.  Meanwhile, 2 other accused in the case, including a tantric (exorcist), were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Blaine Milam executed for 2008 killing of toddler in East Texas East Texas death row inmate Blaine Milam has been executed for the 2008 exorcism-style murder of 13-month-old Amora Bain Carson. He was convicted in the December 2008 exorcism-style killing of 13-month-old Amora Bain Carson in Rusk County.  Milam received the lethal injection at 6:19 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. this evening. His execution follows a decade of legal challenges as his defense team challenged the use of bite mark evidence and raised concerns about intellectual disability. 

Death row inmate Blaine Milam is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening for the 2008 killing of his then-fiancée’s 13-month-old daughter after his two previous execution dates were delayed. In 2008, Milam and the girl’s mother, Jesseca Carson, called police to their home near Tatum, where authorities found 13-month-old Amora Carson dead, with human bite marks on her body and signs of physical and sexual assault, according to court documents. The two initially gave police different reasons for the toddler’s death, including that they had left the home and found her injured, that she had eaten insulation and later that they had performed an exorcism on the child.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday granted the stay for Blaine Milam, 31, to review intellectual disability claims. He had been set for lethal injection on Thursday for killing his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter during what the couple had said was part of an “exorcism.”  He was convicted of capital murder for the December 2008 slaying of Amora Carson at his trailer in Rusk County in East Texas. Milam’s girlfriend, Jesseca Carson, was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Prosecutors say Milam savagely beat, bit, strangled, and sexually mutilated the girl over a period of 30 hours. Milam’s attorneys say 3 of 4 experts who examined him determined Milam is intellectually disabled.  In its ruling, the appeals court ordered Milam’s claims of intellectual disability be reviewed by his trial court. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 barred the execution of intellectually disabled people, but it has given states some discretion to ...

Blaine Milam was convicted in the 2008 East Texas death of his girlfriend's 13-month-old baby. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has stopped the state’s first execution of the year, pointing to changes in bite mark science and laws regarding intellectual disability and the death penalty. Blaine Milam received a stay from the court a day before his death was scheduled on Tuesday. Milam, 29, was convicted in the brutal death of his girlfriend’s 13-month-old baby girl in 2008 in East Texas. In a late appeal, Milam argued against the state’s reliance on bite mark testimony, which was a key part of his trial. His lawyers also claimed he was intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for execution. “Because of recent changes in the science pertaining to bite mark comparisons and recent changes in the law pertaining to the issue of intellectual disability ... we therefore stay his execution and remand these claims to the trial court for a review of the merits of...

Rusk County man scheduled to be put to death for baby's exorcism beating death A man who was convicted of beating a child during an “exorcism” is scheduled to be the 1st Texas inmate executed in 2019. Unless there is a stay, 29-year-old Blaine Milam will be put to death by lethal injection Tuesday evening at the Huntsville “Walls” Unit. He received the death sentence in 2010 for killing his girlfriend’s 13-month-old child Amora Carson. According to court records, Milam’s attorneys have multiple appeals with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in an attempt to halt the execution. One of the appeals focused on bite mark evidence, which was used as part of the prosecution. The appeal argued that the bite mark evidence has been discredited, calling it "junk science."  Milam’s lawyer is also appealing his conviction under the law of parties and is arguing the defendant had a psychotic illness at the time of the murder. Milam lost a United States Supreme ...

Drugs, mental illness, disability factors in 2008 infant murder Blaine Milam, a young man from Rusk County, is scheduled to be the state's first execution of 2019. Unlike many death row inmates, Milam's case has moved relatively quickly through the court system; he was sentenced to death in 2011 for the brutal killing of Amora Carson – the 13-month-old daughter of Milam's girlfriend Jessica Carson – during an alleged exorcism in 2008. (Carson was given life in prison without parole, though Milam's trial counsel argued she was responsible for the murder.) The usual appeals were filed, but in September, a month before the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Milam's final federal appeal, the state scheduled his execution for Tuesday, Jan. 15. As his death date nears, Milam's recently appointed lawyer Jennae Swiergula with Texas Defender Services filed an appeal and a stay request in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Jan. 7 and 8, respectively. In an ...

Blaine Keith Milam's execution is scheduled for 6 pm CST, on Tuesday, January 15, 2019, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas.  29-year-old Blaine is convicted of the murder of 13-month old Amora Carson in Rusk County, Texas, in December 2008. Blaine has been on death row in Texas for the past 8 years. Blaine did not have a prior prison record. He dropped out of school after the 4th grade and was not working at the time of his arrest, although he had worked previously.  According to Blaine’s mother, Blaine stopped maturing emotionally at the age of 12 and used methamphetamine off-and-on. Blaine took the death of his father hard, twice trying to commit suicide. At the time of the murder, Blaine was on probation for solicitation of aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14. Blaine Milam and Jessica Carson met in January 2008, and became engaged on prom night. When they met, Jessica had recently had a child, ...

The self-proclaimed 'exorcist' who beat 3 children to death has been handed the death sentence, a court ruled earlier today. After pleading guilty to the murder charges last November, the perpetrator, Tun Naing, was tried under Sections 302 and 325 for committing grievous harm and murder.  Today, the Yangon Southern District Court sentenced him to 7 years in jail under Section 325, and to death by hanging under Section 302, Mizzima reports. Tun Naing was arrested last October for beating 3 children - aged 3 years, 2 years, and 8 months - to death in an attempt to rid their bodies of evil spirits. He also reportedly gave the children's families and other villagers 'blessed' water and put them in a 'trance', and killed the children as they watched. Police reports noted that the bodies showed signs of being kicked, punched, and stamped on. While the death penalty still exists in Myanmar, it is rarely carried out. The most recent death sentenc...