The final words of a 48-year-old Utah man convicted of murdering his former girlfriend’s mother were directed towards those present and his family members during his execution on Thursday.

Taberon Dave Honie broke into Claudia Benn’s home in 1998 and repeatedly slashed her throat and stabbed her, Fox News reported Thursday:

Benn was the maternal grandmother of the man’s daughter, Tressa, who is now 27 years old. The killing happened after he had been drinking and using drugs:

Just before the lethal injection at the state prison, officials strapped Honie to an execution table, and he then gave his final statement.

He said, “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”:

Moments later, he mouthed “I love you” to his family members, who were watching from a witness chamber.

A photo shows the now-deceased inmate:

According to the Fox article, “Honie was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death. The judge who sentenced him also found that Honie had sexually abused one of Benn’s other grandchildren who was in the house with a then 2-year-old Tressa at the time of the murder.”

Honie confessed to the killing the night it transpired, USA Today reported on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Benita Yracheta, who is Benn’s daughter, told the newspaper she is relieved that justice was happening for everyone affected by her mother’s death.

“My mom, she never knew her death date. She didn’t know she was gonna die that night,” she said:

In regard to the execution, a police official said, “No one involved today takes joy in carrying out this responsibility. But we recognize it as one of our statutory duties, and we take it seriously.”

A few days before the execution, Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox denied a request from Honie’s lawyers to delay it, KSL 5 reporter Lindsay Aerts reported Tuesday:

In a statement about the execution, Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes addressed the different views on the death penalty.

“But there is no dispute that the violent and unprovoked taking of innocent lives from fellow human beings is among the crimes deemed by society to be most vile, repugnant and punishable by the harshest measures possible. In states like Utah, that includes the death penalty,” he said.