Utah Death Row Inmate Gorged on Cheeseburger, French Fries, and a Milkshake Before Lethal Injection

Taberon Honie, a Native American belonging to the Hopi tribe, ended his 25-year stint on Utah ’s death row with a simple last meal.

Knewz.com has learned that the 48-year-old father of one merely opted for a basic cheeseburger with French fries, and a milkshake.

In the last minutes of August 8, Honie took his final walk to the execution chamber where he was injected with two doses of pentobarbital per a prison doctor’s recommendation.

As noted by Ben Winslow from Fox 13 who was present during the execution, “The warden read the death warrant to him (Honie) and he did then give his final words.”

Honie’s final words were: “From the start it’s been, if it needs to be done for them to heal, let’s do this. If they tell you you can’t change, don’t listen to them. To all my brothers and sisters in here, continue to change. I love you all. Take care.”

After he appeared to stop breathing, he was tested numerous times for heartbeat and pulse and pronounced dead at 12:25 AM.

Winslow continued his account saying: “So what we observed as we were in the room is when the curtain was drawn, Taberon Honie appeared to be looking up, lifting his head up and laid down.”

“His arms were strapped to the table and he had IVs in both of his arms.”

Winslow and his press counterparts noted an anomaly:

“His foot appeared to be twitching. We couldn’t tell if it was out of nervousness or whether it was just a reaction that was happening.”

Honie “continued to look around […]. He closed his eyes. His foot continued to tap and then stopped. He continued to look around and from what we observed he appeared to be mouthing something to the warden and the director of operations.”

When Brian Redd, the Utah Department of Correction’s executive director took the podium at the ensuing press conference, he explained the “mouthing” Winslow and his fellow viewers observed.

“So he was actually… Speaking to the warden [and] myself he simply stated ‘Thank you for taking care of my family ,’ and then he raised his head, and looked over to where his family was viewing and just said ‘I love you’,” Redd said.

After the curtain was drawn across the viewing window, Honie’s father was allowed into the chamber to perform a Hopi ritual.

The Hopi believe that the souls of individuals who die in enclosed spaces become trapped. As such, the short ceremony entailed a few feathers and some cornmeal to lead Honie’s soul out of the building and into the afterlife.

Honie was handed a death sentence in 1998 after slashing his ex-girlfriend’s mother’s throat repeatedly and stabbing in other parts of her body.

He had been drinking heavily and abusing drugs before his crime .

He is reported to have told a parole hearing in July 2024: “Yes, I’m a monster. The only thing that kept me going all these years, the only thing I know 100%, this would never happen if I was in my right mind … I make no excuses,” per USA Today .

The last person (before Honie) to be executed in Utah was Ronnie Lee Gardner who died at the behest of a firing squad in 2010.