Benjamin Cole, who was executed by the state of Oklahoma on Thursday morning for the 2002 killing of his 9-month-old daughter, did not ask for a traditional last meal.
The 57-year-old, who died from a lethal injection, was given a “religious meal” consisting of vegetarian lasagna, salad, a tortilla and a packet of fruit, according to The Oklahoman.
Cole, who said he hopes his spirit will return to his “Heavenly Father,” also described himself as “just a superduper hyperbolic Jesus freak.”
As his final words, Cole delivered a two-minute religious ramble with the words “Choose Jesus while you still can” and “Keep your eyes open…Be ready at all times.”
He asked that Jesus “receive my Spirit.”
Cole was pronounced dead at 10:22 a.m. Central Time after refusing to have a spiritual advisor in the room. He didn’t want his lawyers in the witness room.
His lawyers had previously argued that Cole was mentally ill and unfit for execution.
Benjamin Robert Cole, 57, was killed by the state of Oklahoma Thursday morning after being convicted of the 2002 murder of his infant daughter
Cole’s attorneys unsuccessfully pleaded for clemency for the killer due to a serious mental illness and an ever-expanding lesion in his brain that affected his problem-solving, movement, and social interactions
Brianna Cole was tragically killed by her father on December 20, 2002. She was nine months old
Cole was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and, according to his attorneys, was “crippled to the point of essentially non-functioning by his mental illness.”
However, prosecutors and members of the victim’s family said the symptoms of Cole’s mental illness were exaggerated and that the brutality of his daughter’s murder merited the death penalty.
Five days before Christmas in 2002, Brianna Cole was murdered by her father, who forcibly bent the child backwards until her spine broke and her aorta ruptured. Prosecutors said Cole was angry that her screams interrupted his video game.
Cole was Oklahoma’s sixth execution since October 2021, when the state resumed the practice.
In the execution chamber, Cole didn’t express direct remorse for killing his baby, instead citing “everyone I did wrong.”
However, his lawyers argued that Cole was both seriously mentally ill and had a growing lesion in his brain that gradually worsened while he was in prison.
The lesion affected the parts of his brain that dealt with problem solving, movement, and social interaction. The type of lesion he has is often associated with Parkinson’s disease.
While on death row awaiting execution, Cole reportedly neglected his personal hygiene and refused medical attention. He hoarded food and rarely communicated with other prisoners or prison staff.
His attorney, Katrina Conrad-Leger, said his condition continued to deteriorate throughout the year.
Cole’s attorneys argued that he was living in a near-catatonic state and that they had not had any meaningful interaction with him in years. They said he couldn’t understand why the state of Oklahoma would want to kill him
Cole died by lethal injection. He was the sixth inmate to die in Oklahoma after the state resumed the practice in 2021
According to his clemency plea, Cole lived in an almost “catatonic” state.
“His own lawyers have been unable to meaningfully interact with him for years and the staff who deal with him every day in prison confirm he is unable to communicate or attend to his most basic hygiene. He just doesn’t have a rational understanding of why Oklahoma is trying to execute him,” said attorney Tom Bird.
His lawyers pointed to an “evolving standard of decency” when it comes to executing the mentally ill.
“In this moment, Oklahoma has an opportunity to show courage to follow those standards and be on the right side of history by banning the execution of Benjamin Cole, a seriously mentally ill and physically infirm person,” they wrote.
But the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 last month to deny the pardon, and in early October a district judge ruled he had jurisdiction to execute.
The curtain in the execution chamber rose at 10:04 a.m. CET, a few minutes late.
The lethal injection itself lasted 16 minutes. At one moment during the process, Cole opened his eyes, trembled slightly and yawned as the poison coursed through his veins.
Cole’s attorneys said his mental health had deteriorated so badly over his time in prison that he was inoperable by the time of his death
Cole on Thursday became one of more than 24 executions Oklahoma is currently conducting
Two appeals to the US Supreme Court were also dismissed this week, allowing the execution to continue Thursday morning.
A separate case filed Wednesday argued that Oklahoma’s execution protocol was unconstitutional because of a number of issues that arose in the death chamber, among other reasons.
A federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s decision earlier this year that the state’s record of executions is constitutional.
“Oklahoma’s past problems in the execution chamber are insufficient to show that similar problems in the future are imminent,” the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion said.
Additionally, the state and family of victim Brianna Cole argued that the symptoms of Cole’s mental incompetence had been overstated.
Assistant Attorney General Tessa Henry told the clemency panel Cole murdered his child because he was angry that her screams interrupted his video game.
In a recorded confession to police, Cole admitted to causing his daughter’s fatal injuries and said he will “regret his actions for the rest of his life.”
Twice during his first trial, Cole’s attorneys requested competency assessments based on their client’s religious delusions and irrational behavior. He had not yet been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was found fit to stand trial.
Before his trial, prosecutors offered him a plea deal that would have resulted in a life sentence without parole, which he refused – a decision his younger legal team described as a “complete act of unreasonableness against self-interest.”
Prosecutors indicated that the child had a number of injuries consistent with a history of abuse and that Cole had previously served a stint in California prison for aggravated child abuse of a son from his first marriage.
Emotional testimonies from baby Brianna’s family were also presented to the board.
Her aunt Donna Daniel said that she first saw her little niece in her coffin.
“Do you know how horrifying it is to see a nine-month-old baby in a coffin?” she asked.
“This baby deserves justice. Our family deserves justice.”
Cole’s execution was originally scheduled to take place in 2015, but the state halted the practice to investigate a drug mix-up.