Oklahoma executes Benjamin Cole for 2002 murder of his baby daughter who he bent backwards until her spine broke
- enjamin Cole, 57, was executed by the state of Oklahoma Thursday morning
- He was convicted of brutally killing his infant daughter in 2002
- His attorneys previously argued that Cole was severely mentally ill and not competent for execution
- For years, Cole had a lesion growing on his brain - separate from a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia - that impacted his movement and social interactions
By SOPHIE MANN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 17:42 BST, 20 October 2022 | UPDATED: 18:35 BST, 20 October 2022
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Inmate Benjamin Cole was executed by the state of Oklahoma Thursday morning for the 2002 killing of his 9-month-old daughter.He was pronounced dead at 10.22am Central Time.The 57-year-old died by lethal injection.ADVERTISEMENTHis attorneys had previously argued that Cole was mentally ill and not competent to be executed.Cole was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and, according to his attorneys, is 'incapacitated by his mental illness to the point of being essentially non-functional.'Attorneys for the state and members of the victim's family, however, have said that symptoms of Cole's mental illness are exaggerated and that the brutality of his daughter's killing merited the death penalty. Five days before Christmas in 2002, Brianna Cole was murdered by her father, who forcibly bent the infant backwards until her spine broke and her aorta tore. Prosecutors said Cole was angry that her cries were interrupting his video game playing. Cole's was the sixth execution carried out in Oklahoma since October 2021 when the state recommenced the practice.