Salt Lake City, Utah – Utah officials have upheld the decision to deny clemency to Taberon Dave Honie, who is facing execution by lethal injection on August 8 for the murder of his girlfriend’s mother in 1998.
The announcement about Honie’s fate came in a brief notice from Scott Stephenson, chair of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole. After a two-day commutation hearing, Honie’s request to have his sentence commuted to life in prison was rejected. He claimed that he would not have committed the crime if he had been in his right state of mind.
Despite Honie’s plea, Benn’s family urged the parole board to move forward with the execution, expressing the devastation they have experienced since her death. They described Benn as a respected figure in their family and the southwestern Utah community, highlighting her roles as a tribal council member, substance abuse counselor, and caregiver.
The crime took place in Cedar City, the tribal headquarters of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, where Honie broke into Benn’s home and brutally attacked her, with her grandchildren present, including Honie’s own daughter. Honie was convicted of aggravated murder in 1999, and the judge found aggravating factors such as sexual abuse of a child.
During the hearing, Honie’s attorneys detailed his traumatic upbringing on the Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona, citing parental neglect, substance abuse, and a lack of parenting skills. However, the state argued that his actions caused further trauma to the victim’s family.
Utah has not had an execution since 2010, when Ronnie Lee Gardner was put to death by firing squad. Honie is one of six individuals on death row in Utah, while the sentence of a seventh individual, Douglas Lovell, was recently overturned.
Despite objections from Honie’s defense team regarding the execution method, a change to the drug combination has been agreed upon, with pentobarbital being used instead. The case is still pending, with his lawyers working to protect his rights until the scheduled execution date.