Texas man executed for 'exorcism' killing of girlfriend's 13-month-old daughter

A Texas man on death row for the torturous killing of his girlfriend's 13-month-old daughter during a so-called exorcism was executed by lethal injection Thursday evening in Huntsville. Blaine Milam, 35, died by lethal injection at about 6:40 p.m. local time at the state prison in Huntsville after more than a decade on death row for the 2008 killing of Amora Rose in a trailer in East Texas. The couple claimed Milam performed an exorcism to drive out a demon from the child.

In a final statement from the death chamber gurney, Milam thanked supporters and the prison chaplaincy for offering faith-based programs to death row inmates. “If any of you would like to see me again, I implore all of you no matter who you are to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and we will meet again,” he said. “I love you all. Bring me home, Jesus.” The lethal dose of pentobarbital began entering his right hand and left arm at 6:19 p.m., and he was pronounced dead about two minutes later.

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Court documents later detailed horrific injuries Amora suffered in the 30-hour ordeal, including skull fractures, broken arms, legs and ribs, bite marks and signs of physical and sexual assault. A forensic pathologist said the many injuries made it impossible to determine a single cause of death. Milam and Carson initially claimed the child was possessed by a demon, a defense the prosecutors said was a cover for the killing. Milam had blamed his girlfriend, Jesseca Carson, who was tried separately and sentenced to life without parole after being convicted of capital murder for helping Milam.

Milam’s appeals contended he suffered from an intellectual disability, arguing that executing him would be unconstitutional. He received stays in 2019 and again in 2021 to allow his appeals to be heard, but the courts ultimately ruled him fit for execution. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously declined to grant clemency on Tuesday.

The prosecutor who tried the case, Rusk County District Attorney Micheal Jimerson, who also worked with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, said authorities initially treated Milam and Carson as grieving parents, but later evidence and statements undermined that narrative. “We will never know what Amora would have contributed to our world,” Jimerson said after the execution. “Answering the call for justice for the most helpless is a measure of a civilized people.”

Amora’s slaying highlighted the brutal realities of Texas’ capital punishment system. Milam was the fifth inmate executed in Texas this year, a state long regarded as the nation’s busiest for executions. Nationwide, Thursday’s executions marked the second in the United States, bringing the year’s total to 33 death sentences carried out across the country. Florida led the nation this year with a record 12 executions to date, with two more scheduled by mid-October. The other execution on Thursday occurred in Alabama, where Geoffrey West was put to death by nitrogen hypoxia for a 1997 gas station robbery and murder.

The case drew attention to the interplay between sensational claims of demon possession and the criminal justice system’s handling of homicide investigations. Prosecutors said the damages were the result of prolonged, sadistic abuse, not a ritual ritualized exorcism, and that Amora’s death was the outcome of deliberate brutality. As the state continues to administer capital punishment, supporters of the death penalty say the executions serve as a deterrent and a measure of justice for victims, while opponents argue the system risks executing the innocent and disproportionately affects marginalized communities.