Texas man to be executed for exorcism murder of girlfriend's toddler

A Texas man is slated to be executed on Thursday for killing his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter during what prosecutors described as a brutal 30-hour exorcism in 2008. Blaine Milam, 35, was convicted in December 2008 of murdering Amora Carson in a trailer in Rusk County, east of Dallas, after authorities said he tried to expel a demon from the child’s body.

Prosecutors said Milam savagely beat Amora with a hammer, strangled, bit and mutilated her. They described a sustained attack that left the toddler with skull fractures, broken bones and dozens of bite marks. Milam has maintained his innocence for years since his conviction and has said his then-girlfriend, Jesseca Carson, insisted the child was possessed and that he followed her lead. Carson was later convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Milam’s attorneys have argued that some evidence, including bite-mark analysis, is unreliable, and that questions about his intellectual disability undermine the case.

Milam’s execution date has slipped in the past; it was previously set for 2019 and then 2021, but the cases stalled while courts considered the claims raised by Milam and his lawyers. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ultimately ruled that the sentence could proceed, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied his claim for clemency.

Because of intensive publicity around the case, a jury was moved from the Dallas area to Montgomery County, about 140 miles away, for the trial. Texas remains the state with the nation’s most active death-row population.

Milam remains on Texas’ death row, awaiting execution as state prosecutors and defense attorneys prepared to present their final arguments for clemency and for the state’s execution to proceed. The case has drawn attention to the use of forensic bite-mark analysis in death-penalty cases and to the appeals process that can stretch over years in capital cases. Critics have argued that evolving standards for scientific evidence complicate outcomes, while supporters say the system must ensure thorough review before a sentence is carried out.

Prosecutors emphasize that Amora Carson endured a prolonged, violent assault as Milam and his girlfriend sought to cast out a demon, a claim central to the exorcism narrative. The defense has pressed questions about Milam’s cognitive functioning and the reliability of certain forensic methods used in the trial. The ongoing legal process reflects broader national conversations about how death-penalty cases are investigated, prosecuted and subjected to post-conviction scrutiny in the United States.