Taberon Honie set to be executed just after midnight. Here’s what will happen before

UPDATE: The Utah Department of Corrections confirmed Taberon Honie was moved to the observation cell where he will be served his last meal and be allowed visitors up until three hours before the execution time.

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SALT LAKE CITY — Taberon Dave Honie, 48, will be put to death by lethal injection tonight, just after midnight, barring any last-minute reprieves.

Honie, who has been on death row since 1999, was convicted of brutally killing his ex-girlfriend’s mother, 49-year-old Claudia Marie Benn, in front of her three granddaughters on July 9, 1998, in Cedar City.

It will be the first execution at the new Utah State Correctional Facility that officially opened in July 2022 and the first in the state in 14 years.

Honie will first be moved from his regular prison cell to an observation cell adjacent to the execution chamber. The Utah Department of Corrections will not announce that move before it happens for security reasons. The entire prison will also be placed on lockdown.

The execution chamber

The execution chamber is 24 feet by 38 feet. There are separate witness rooms, both with reflective glass to protect the identity of witnesses. The windows are also bulletproof “to protect the witnesses from unintended ricochet, if firing squad is used,” according to the department. Honie is set to die by lethal injection.

After Honie is strapped to a gurney in the room, two people will enter and insert an IV. Those two will then leave the room and two other people will do the injection. Those people will be in a separate room and will not be seen by any witnesses or Honie in order to protect their identities.

The two people chosen are “trained in accordance with accepted medical practices to administer intravenous injections, who shall each administer a continuous intravenous injection, one of which shall be of a lethal quantity of sodium thiopental or other equally or more effective substance sufficient to cause death. Based on the recommendation of medical professionals, the drug being used will be pentobarbital,” according to the Utah Department of Corrections.

Neither of the two people will be told which one has the lethal dose.

Taberon Dave Honie, convicted of aggravated murder for the 1998 death of his ex-girlfriend’s mother, appealed his case over 26 years.

Before the lethal injection begins, Honie will be given the opportunity as he is strapped to the gurney to speak any last words. After the injection, a physician will be brought into the chamber to confirm his death.

While not revealing their identities, corrections officials say those participating in the lethal injection are not members of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Division of Correctional Health Services.

Honie will also receive a final meal Wednesday night. A spokesman for the prison says administrators have already received that request, but he declined to disclose it at this time. The last meal will be prepared at the prison. Alcohol is not permitted and cannot be used in the cooking of the meal.

Honie can choose up to five people who are either a religious representative, a friend or a relative to witness his execution. Likewise, up to five members of the victim’s family may be witnesses. Seven members of the media, all from Utah, have been selected to be witnesses, including KSL.com.

Other witnesses will include law enforcers from Iron County, a prosecuting attorney from Iron County, a representative from the Utah Attorney General’s Office and up to three corrections officials.

After he is dead, Honie’s body will be turned over to the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office. Once their assessment is completed, Honie’s remains will be dealt with based on his wishes, but those wishes have not yet been disclosed.