[continued from previous message]   
      
   father's death, which happened in 2001. At that time, Heather   
   testified, Carson immediately became withdrawn, stopped caring about   
   her appearance, and began making serious and unfounded allegations   
   against her.   
      
   Lisa Taylor testified that her daughter and Carson were best friends   
   while growing up in Alabama. Carson, Milam, and Amora visited them   
   twice in Alabama in the fall of 2008. Taylor said that Carson made   
   "bizarre" accusations about her mother. She also said that Carson did   
   not take care of Amora and did not give her a bath for a whole week.   
   She described her as "weird," "hollow," and "empty" and said that   
   looking into her eyes was "like looking into a dark space." Taylor   
   testified that Carson was in charge and that when she told Milam to do   
   something, he did it.   
      
   A psychiatrist, Dr. Frank Murphy, testified that he did not interview   
   Carson, but based on interviews and other materials he read, she   
   suffered from psychotic depression.   
      
   The state presented two witnesses who characterized Milam as dominant   
   in the couple's relationship. One was his former boss, who testified   
   that Milam had "control issues" and he had once warned Milam that if   
   he kept controlling Carson the way he did, she would leave him.   
      
   A jury found Blaine guilty of capital murder on 17 May 2010 and   
   sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed   
   the conviction and sentence in May 2012.   
      
   Jesseca Bain Carson was found guilty of capital murder in April 2011   
   and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.   
   Prosecutors did not seek a death sentence for her.   
      
   Rusk County District Attorney Michael Jimerson explained his decision   
   not to seek the death penalty for Carson. Under Texas law, a jury must   
   find that a convicted capital murderer is a future danger to society   
   in order to impose a death sentence. Jimerson said that the Texas   
   Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that a mother who kills her   
   children is only a future danger to her own children, and since Carson   
   was childless after Amora's death, she was, by legal standards, not a   
   future danger to society at the time of her trial.   
      
   Milam was originally scheduled for execution in 2019. The TCCA stayed   
   the execution on two grounds: first, to examine the scientific   
   reliability of the bite mark evidence presented at his trial, and   
   second, so that Milam's intellectual disability claim could be   
   considered. After a hearing, the trial court decided that Milam's   
   execution should proceed. The TCCA affirmed, and his execution was   
   rescheduled. The TCCA then issued another stay of execution in 2021,   
   once again on intellectual disability grounds. The trial court again   
   found that Milam was not intellectually disabled.   
      
   In his last statement, Milam thanked his supporters. He also thanked   
   the chaplains at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for offering   
   a faith-based program that led to him finding salvation in Jesus   
   Christ. "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. "I   
   love you all. Bring me home, Jesus," he said. The lethal injection was   
   then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m.   
      
   News headlines and articles about Milam's case consistently stated   
   that baby Amora was killed during an exorcism. Rusk County District   
   Attorney Michael E. Jimerson, who prosecuted the case originally, held   
   a press conference following Milam's execution to refute this theory,   
   which he called "outlandish." Jimerson pointed to Milam's previous   
   status as a sex offender and said that he derived "gratification" from   
   torturing Amora. "Most likely, the sensational, headline-grabbing   
   exorcism story was a last-ditch attempt to avoid criminal   
   responsibility by the co-defendant, Carson," Jimerson said.   
      
   David Carson   
   (Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Henderson Daily News,   
   Houston Chronicle, court documents, KETK-TV.)   
      
   --   
   Texas Execution Information   
   www.txexecutions.org   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)