A Florida Panhandle charged with raping and murdering his 10-year-old stepdaughter just minutes after he killed the girl's mother 22 years ago was executed this evening via lethal injection.
Chadwick
Banks, 43, was scheduled to die at 6pm Thursday at Florida State Prison
in Starke for the 1992 slaying of Melody Cooper, who was found on her
knees naked from the waist down and her body slumped on her bed at their
Gadsden County trailer home.
The body of her mother, Cassandra Banks, was found nearby.
Both had been shot in the head.
Banks was pronounced dead at 7.27 pm, the office of Gov. Rick Scott said.
For his last words, Banks apologized to the 19 people who witnessed his execution, among them the family of the two victims.
'I am very sorry for the pain I have caused all these years,' he said, according to WPTV.
'Year after year I have tried to come up with a reasonable answer for my actions. But how could such acts be reasonable?'
Executed: Chadwick Banks, 43, was
pronounced dead at 7.27pm at Florida State Prison for the 1992 slaying
of Melody Cooper, 10, who was found on her knees naked from the waist
down, and her mother, Cassandra Banks, at their Gadsden County trailer
home. He was killed by lethal injection
Victims' family: Rutherford Black, Jr.
(left), and his sister, Gail Black (center) hold photos of their
sister, Cassandra Banks, and niece, Melody Cooper, with Gadsden County
Sheriff Morris Young (right) outside Florida State Prison after the
execution of Chadwick Banks
Bereaved: Annette Black (center)
mother of victim Cassandra Banks, speaks to the media outside the
Florida State Prison after the execution of her former son-in-law on
Thursday night
Protesters: Death penalty opposers
stand outside the Florida State Prison holding candles and singing
songs during the execution of Chadwick Banks
Exonerated death row inmate Seth
Penalver hugs his fiancee during the execution of his friend Chadwick
Banks. Penalver spent 18 years on death row before being found not
guilty of all charges relating to a 1994 home invasion that resulted in
three murders during a third trial in 2012
Banks
was served his last meal at 10 am, for which he requested fried fish,
homemade French fries, hush puppies, old-fashioned dinner rolls and
three desserts - homemade banana pudding, red velvet cake and butter
pecan ice cream, according toThe Tallahassee Democrat.
To drink he asked for a glass of ice water.
Banks, who was 21 at the time of the murders, was serving a life sentence.
Outside
the prison, The mother and grandmother of the two victims, Annette
Black, who was among the 19 people who witnessed the execution, said she
hoped what happened to Banks could be taken as a lesson for other
people.
'Once you take a precious life, nothing can bring that back again,' she said.
It
was the 20th execution carried out in Florida since Gov. Rick Scott
took office in 2011, one fewer than under Jeb Bush, who presided over
the most executions since capital punishment was reinstated in the state
in 1979.
It is believed to be the eighth execution in Florida this year.
Bush was governor for two terms, while Scott, who was re-elected last week, is finishing his first.
'Maybe the most solemn duty is capital punishment. I take it very seriously,' Scott said.
'I
think about the victims. I think about their families. It's what I
think about. I'm going to continue to do the job that I committed to
do.'
Most
of the other 19 people executed have been the perpetrators of some of
the most horrific cases Florida's seen, and many of them left no doubt
that the condemned committed the crime.
That
includes David Alan Gore, a serial killer who raped and dismembered his
victims and was caught with the body of a teenage girl in his car trunk
and a live girl bound in his parents' attic.
Like Gore, Banks admitted to his crime.
Banks'
attorneys have asked the federal courts to intervene, arguing Florida's
lethal injection process violates the ban on cruel and unusual
punishment and that he received ineffective legal counsel.
Scene: Banks was scheduled to be put to death at 6pm Thursday and was pronounced dead at 7.27pm
Injection: The 43-year-old was executed in this chamber at Florida State Prison in Starke
Not one but
three: For his last meal, Banks specified he wanted three desserts -
(left to right) butter pecan ice cream, red velvet cake and banana
pudding
Dinner: The
convicted murderer and rapist wanted only fried foods for his last
proper meal, including hush puppies (left) and fried fish (right)
His lawyer, Terri Backhus, didn't return a phone message and email seeking comment Wednesday.
Gadsden
County Sheriff Morris Young was an officer with the Quincy Police
Department in 1992 when he got word of a double murder just a few blocks
outside of the city line.
He
and others responded to the trailer where the bodies of Cassandra Banks
and Melody were found, both killed by gunshot wounds to the head.
'It
was one of those gruesome things that happened in the community that
had everyone in shock. It was a small town and a huge case,' Young said
this week.
'They just couldn't believe such a thing could happen in a small town.'
Banks was drinking and playing pool at a neighborhood bar called Dut's the night of the slayings.
His wife left the bar and went to their home late that night.
Banks left less than an hour later and went into their trailer and found his wife asleep.
Without waking her, he shot her point-blank in the head then went to his stepdaughter's room.
After
his arrest, he told investigators he had 'spanked' Melody and molested
her for about 20 minutes, but she didn't resist or try to get away.
Evidence showed the assault was much more violent.
Banks was executed by lethal injection
at Florida State Prison (pictured) in Starke on Thursday night. It is
the 20th execution carried out in Florida since Gov. Rick Scott took
office in 2011
Banks' blood was found under Melody's fingernails and on her pillow, and she had a bruise and cut on her face.
She had also been sodomized and Banks' DNA was found inside her.
Forensic
experts testified that given the position of her body, and that it had
not moved after the shot was fired, Banks had to pull her head far back
in order to fire the gun through the top of her skull.
Young spoke with Chadwick Banks' father, Dennis, and Cassandra Banks' mother on Monday.
He said both families accept the execution.
'As sheriff, now I stand with both sides of the family,' said Young, who added he has known Banks' parents for years.
Dennis Banks was a longtime corrections officer and ran a security company.
'He
and his wife are true believers in God and they've turned this over to
him,' Young said, adding that the Banks have visited their son in prison
and have prayed with him.
'Their son turned his life over to God and they are content with everything that's going on.'
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