OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a last-minute appeal filed by Oklahoma death row inmate Benjamin Cole, paving the way for Thursday to receive a lethal injection.
Cole, 57, was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering her 9-month-old daughter, Brianna Cole, by forcibly bending her back and breaking her spine. Prosecutors allege that Cole was angry with a crying child while he was playing a video game.
Cole’s attorneys do not dispute that he killed the infant, but they say he was severely psychotic and suffered brain damage that was exacerbated while in prison.
A state board rejected Cole’s pardon offer earlier this month, and a judge in an Oklahoma district court ruled he was competent enough to be executed.
It will be Cole’s sixth execution since Oklahoma resumed executions in October 2021.
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The story was modified to show that the victim’s last name was Cole instead of Taylor.