Utah executes first death row inmate since 2010

Utah executed death row inmate Taberon Honie, 48, at the State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City just after midnight on Thursday.

The big picture: It's the first time the state has carried out an execution since 2010, when convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner was killed by a firing squad.

• He is the 12th inmate in the U.S. this year to die by capital punishment, per USA Today .
• Honie died by lethal injection at 12:25am, minutes after receiving a single dose of pentobarbital, a central nervous system depressant.

Catch up quick: Honie was sentenced to the death penalty in 1999 for sexually assaulting and murdering 49-year-old Claudia Benn, his ex-girlfriend's mother.

• Benn, a substance abuse counselor and member of the Paiute Tribe, was killed at her Cedar City home in 1998.

What they're saying: "From the start, it's been if it needs to be done for them to heal, let's do this. If they tell you you can't change, don't listen to them. To all my brothers and sisters here — continue to change," Honie said before receiving the lethal injection.

• In a statement following the execution, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he hoped it brought closure to impacted families.
• "The actions of Mr. Honie that lead to his death sentence are heinous," he said.

Context: Honie's legal team made multiple attempts at appeals over the years.

• Cox denied a recent petition from attorneys to delay the execution, saying Honie had "exhausted his appeals."
• "In making this decision, I am mindful of the fact that Mr. Honie has had every opportunity to challenge his sentence since it was imposed 25 years ago, in litigation and before the Board of Pardons and Parole," Cox said in a statement to Honie's attorneys.

By the numbers: As the number of states with death penalties dwindles, 60% U.S. adults supported capital punishment for people convicted of murder, a 2021 Pew Research Center survey found.