Brandon Bernard, who was 18 when he took part in the murder of youth ministers Todd and Stacie Bagley in 1999, was killed by lethal injection on Thursday, December 10. Bernard, 40, is the ninth federal inmate to be put to death this year after a 17-year-long federal execution hiatus.
Brandon Bernard's final words, which were more than three minutes long, addressed the Bagley family, according to reporters covering the execution. "I'm sorry," Brandon said. "That's the only words that I can say that completely capture how I feel now and how I felt that day."
Bernard’s execution caused a wave of public backlash, with numerous Americans – including an American socialite and criminal justice activist Kim Kardashian West, former United States Solicitor General Ken Starr, and Trump’s impeachment legal team attorney Alan Dershowitz – pleading with the president to commute the sentence.
Convicted of a capital crime, Bernard was deprived of competent legal defense and faced a less than a fair trial, with barely any witnesses called to testify on the 18-year-old’s behalf.
In fact, Brandon was absent when the carjacking was initiated, “having wandered to a nearby store to play video games”. He was neither the mastermind nor the shooter in the robbery gone awry, being held at a gunpoint when commanded to burn the car with two – presumably dead – victims. Cristopher Vialva – the band’s ringleader executed earlier in September – had shot the Bagleys in the head, to the shock of other accomplices.
While the prosecution argued it was the fire that killed Stacie Bagley, who managed to survive the gunshot, independent assessments haves since disputed the claim. According to the chief medical examiner, both victims were medically dead when the fire started.
Angela Moore, the prosecutor who had defended capital punishment in the appeal, objected to the execution due to new developments.
“I think executing Brandon would be a terrible stain on the nation’s honor. We rightly must reserve the death penalty for the “worst of the worst,” if as a nation we continue to impose execution as a punishment. Having learned so much since 2000 about the maturation of the human brain, and having seen Brandon grow into a humble, remorseful adult fully capable of living peacefully in prison, how can we say he is among that tiny group of offenders who must be put to death?” she wrote in her opinion piece on the Bernard case.
Similarly, five of the nine surviving jurors in Brandon’s case changed their mind, pleading with President Trump to commute the sentence.
Brandon Bernard, in turn, has spent the last 20 years of his imprisonment preaching to at-risk teenagers, helping them avoid similar mistakes.
“Something special I learned about #BrandonBernard is that in addition to his work with youth, he also really likes to crochet. He told me this week he wishes he had more time before his execution so he could crochet me a blanket,” Kardashian West added on Twitter.
Brandon Bernard with his family
The execution proceeded despite last-minute attempts at a SCOTUS appeal and numerous public outcries.
"I pray that even in his death, Brandon will advance his commitment to helping others by moving us closer to a time when this country does not pointlessly and maliciously kill young Black men who pose no threat to anyone, when we hold prosecutors to the highest standards of integrity in every case, and when our leaders exercise their moral authority where it is needed," Robert Owen, Bernard’s attorney, wrote in a statement. "We were proud to call Brandon our client and our friend, and we will miss him greatly."
Brandon Bernard was the ninth death row inmate to be executed since July. At the direction of Attorney General William Barr, summer 2020 marked the resumption of federal executions after a 17-year hiatus. Another five executions – of four Black men and a woman – are set to take place before Biden’s inauguration on January 20. Joe Biden opposes the death penalty as a form of punishment and is likely to halt the practice.