The 33rd Execution of 2025
Texas death row inmate Blaine Milam was executed on September 25, 2025 for the 2008 killing of his then-fiancée’s 13-month-old daughter after his two
previous execution dates were delayed, reported the Texas Tribune.
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.
Milam was executed by lethal injection and pronounced dead
at 6:40 p.m., according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In his
final statement, the 35-year-old thanked those who supported him while he was
on death row and the TDCJ chaplains for helping him find religion.
"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," Milam said.
Milam’s appeals in the years since his conviction largely
focused on his potential exemption from the death penalty due to intellectual
disability and since-discredited bite-mark science used during his trial.
Executing intellectually disabled inmates is unconstitutional, and the
discreditation of bite-mark science has led to at least one overturned
conviction in Texas under the state’s “junk science” law.
Milam received two stays on his execution in 2019 and
2021 to have appeals heard, but all eventually failed as he was ruled mentally
fit for execution. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously declined
to grant Milam clemency on Tuesday.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Milam's application for a
stay of execution on Thursday. The application claimed “demonstrably unreliable
and prejudicial forensic evidence” was used because prosecutors could not
justify a motive for Milam to have killed the toddler, as well as new
understanding of bite-mark science and updates to DNA testimony.
Milam's death marks the fifth execution in Texas this year,
the same number of executions as 2024. In March, David Wood’s execution was
halted two
days before he was scheduled to be put to death. The Texas Criminal
Court of Appeals granted him a stay, and subsequently remanded Wood’s
case back to trial court, where it awaits further action.
remainder of the year
is that of Robert Roberson, whose innocence in the death of his 2-year-old
daughter, Nikki, has long been maintained not only by him but by a number of
state lawmakers. On Wednesday,
Roberson’s lawyer said the 58-year-old inmate would not seek clemency, but
rather focus on obtaining a new trial.
In August, Roberson filed a new appeal that
provided new evidence the petition claimed was only made available because of
intervention by Rep. Lacey Hull,
R-Houston. The appeal alleges that the Anderson County Judiciary acted unconstitutionally
multiple times in the opening days of Roberson’s case, including improperly
informing the hospital caring for Nikki that her grandparents had the right to
remove her from life support.
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