Update: Banks executed for 1992 double murder

Update 10:20 p.m.

STARKE- Chadwick Banks, convicted in the 1992 murder of his wife and stepdaughter, said he was sorry to a room of 19 witnesses before he was executed Thursday night at Florida State Prison.

"I would like to apologize to the following families who I hurt and disappointed by my actions 22 years ago," Banks said during a brief statement, listing five families including his and the victims'. Banks prayed as he was given a series of lethal injection drugs.

"I am very sorry for the hurt and pain I have caused you all, all of these years. Year after year I have tried to come up with a reasonable answer to my actions, but how could such acts be reasonable?" he said.

Banks, a Gadsden County man whose family has deep connections to the rural community, shot his wife Cassandra Banks and 10-year-old Melody Cooper in the early morning hours of Sept. 24, 1992.

Banks, who was 21 at the time, confessed to shooting the two with a .32-caliber revolver the next day after their bodies were found by a family member. Cassandra Banks, 30, was found in her bed; Melody was kneeling on the floor facing her own bed.

During his statement he said that his mind was no longer befogged, "and I am a different person."

The execution began at 7:10 p.m., after which Banks closed his eyes and began to breath deeply. A team warden conducted a consciousness check by touching his eyelash and shaking his shoulders. Banks did not appear to make any movements following the check. He was pronounced dead at 7:27 p.m.

Florida uses a three-drug mixture to execute prisoners: midazolam hydrochloride, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride, which are administered intravenously. The series is intended to first render the prisoner unconsciousness, then paralyzed and finally induce cardiac arrest.

Banks, 43, had 14 visitors Thursday including his parents, his siblings, a friend and his spiritual adviser. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jessica Cary said none of his family attended the execution.

He was convicted in 1994 of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of sexual battery on a child under 12 after pleading no contest and was sentenced to death for the 10-year-old's murder.

Banks' two efforts to appeal his sentence were denied. Gov. Rick Scott signed his death warrant Sept. 22, almost 22 years to the day of the crimes.

Banks is the 20th person executed since Scott took office in 2011 and the eight this year. He is the 89th prisoner executed since 1979, following the reinstatement of the death penalty in Florida.

Annette Black, Cassandra Banks' mother and Melody's grandmother, said the 22-year wait for justice has made the deaths of two generations of her family a tough subject to talk about. She was joined by several other family members including her 89-year-old husband Rutherford, son Rutherford Black Jr. and daughter Gail Black.

"Today was the culmination of the act that occurred over 22 years ago and it's been very devastating to both our families," Black said following the execution. "It's a pain that cannot be erased."

She added that Banks' statement resonated with her.

Cary said Banks ate his final meal of fried fish, homemade French fries, hush puppies, old-fashioned dinner rolls, homemade banana pudding, red velvet cake, butter pecan ice cream and a glass of ice water. He was served the meal about 10 a.m. Thursday.

"His demeanor was calm, and he ate most of his meal," she said.

The execution was also attended by Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young, reserve deputy Tommy Mills and GCSO Maj. James Morgan.

"The families of Cassandra Banks and Melody Cooper have had to carry this burden for 22 years. Our hearts and prayer certainly go out to them as they have had to relive the reality of losing love ones," Young said in a statement. "Although Chad Banks confessed, apologized and has faced his penalty his family is also grieving tonight. We certainly want to also pray for their strength as they deal with their loss. We will forever remember the victims in this case and continue to pray for healing for the families and our community."

Seth Penalver, who was exonerated from death row in 2012 knew Banks while the two were in prison. He was across the street from the prison during the execution.

He said that Banks, who listed his Muslim name of Magbul Abdur-Rahiym on his written statement, was a changed man when he knew him.

"He had a bad past," Penalver said. "He was changed man, but he was human being first and foremost."

The death penalty sends the wrong message, he added.

"What are we proving? Nobody wins here, nobody."

Banks' attorney, Terri Backhus of Tampa, sought a stay of execution in state court in late October on the grounds that Banks received inefficient post-conviction counsel and contested Florida's lethal injection drugs violate the U.S. Constitution's ban against cruel and unusual punishment because it presents a risk of pain and suffering. The state denied the motion, which is similar to ones the high court has repeatedly denied in other death-penalty cases.

Backhus also attempted a last-minute stay in federal court on the grounds that the registry program that Banks' post-conviction counsel was assigned from is unconstitutional.

Annette Black expressed condolences to Banks' family following his execution and said she hoped it would serve as a deterrent in future violent crime.

"Our heart goes out to his side of the family. Its been a terrible day for us," she said. "If I could leave one word in parting, do unto others, as you would have them do to you. Enjoy your life and allow others to enjoy their's. Almost any decision a person makes can be reversed…but once you take a precious life nothing can ever bring that life back again."

7:40 p.m. update

STARKE -- Chadwick Banks, who was convicted in the 1992 double murder of his wife and stepdaughter, was executed at 7:27 p.m. tonight at Florida State Prison.

He apologized to a room of 19 witnesses, including members of the victims' families, saying, "I am very sorry for the hurt and pain I have caused you all, all of these years. Year after year I have tried to come up with a reasonable answer to my actions, but how could such acts be reasonable?"

Check back with Tallahassee.com for updates.

4 p.m. update

STARKE -- Chadwick Banks, who is scheduled to be executed tonight at Florida State Prison, ate his final meal of fried fish, homemade French fries, hush puppies, old-fashioned dinner rolls, homemade banana pudding, red velvet cake, butter pecan ice cream and a glass of ice water. He was served the meal about 10 a.m. today.

Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jessica Cary said Banks was visited by 14 people, including his parents, nine siblings, a friend and his spiritual adviser earlier today.

"His demeanor is calm, and he ate most of his meal," Cary said.

None of his family will attend the execution, but several family members of victims Cassandra Banks and Melody Cooper are expected to attend, Cary said.

Check back with Tallahassee.com for updates.

Morning update

Annette Black and her family have waited 22 years for justice.

Tonight, the man convicted of killing her daughter and granddaughter, Chadwick D. Banks, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke.

Black, now 67 with a resigned demeanor, still lives in the Gadsden County community where her daughter Cassandra Banks, 30, and her 10-year-old granddaughter Melody Cooper were killed. The day following the murders she told the Democrat she had no anger toward Chadwick Banks.

Twenty-two years later she still feels that way.

"I've waited 22 years. I've never believed that my husband and I would live to see justice," Black said Monday. "I'm not mad with him. I don't hate him. He started something and this is the end of it."

Banks, who had recently married Cassandra Banks, shot her and Melody in the head with a .32 caliber revolver at their Quincy home on Sept. 24, 1992. The girl also had been raped.

Black, who is planning to attend the execution, called losing her daughter and granddaughter to someone they loved and trusted "treason." To talk about it among family is still impossible, she said.

"It's so terrible we can't even talk about it," Black said. "Nobody ever says anything about it. You get to a point where you don't cry any more. It's beyond sadness."

Banks, who was 21 at the time, confessed to the crimes the next day after their bodies were found by a family member. Cassandra Banks was found in her bed; Melody was kneeling on the floor facing her own bed.

Cassandra Banks, who worked in Tallahassee at the Apalachee Center, married Chadwick Banks two months before the murders, which occurred after the couple argued at a Quincy pool hall.

Witnesses told the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office the argument took place just before 2 a.m. Cassandra Banks left the pool hall alone. Chadwick Banks returned home about an hour later.

A neighbor he said he saw him waiting for several minutes outside the mobile home in the dark. He entered without turning the lights on.

Banks was seen leaving an hour later. He went to a relative's house where he slept for a few hours and stashed his gun before going to work. He was arrested there a few hours after Cassandra and Melody's bodies were found.

He was convicted in 1994 of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of sexual battery on a child under 12 after pleading no contest and was sentenced to death. Banks' two efforts to appeal his sentence were denied. Gov. Rick Scott signed his death warrant Sept. 22, almost 22 years to the day of the crimes.

His attorney, Terri Backhus of Tampa, appealed challenging the use of Florida's lethal-injection drugs on the grounds they violate the U.S. Constitution's ban against cruel and unusual punishment because it presents a risk of pain and suffering. The motion is similar to ones the high court has repeatedly denied in other death-penalty cases.

She also appealed on grounds that her clients' post conviction counsel lacked the resources or staff to mount a proper appeal, failed to uncover details about Banks' mental illness and child abuse he suffered and missed a federal appeals deadline.

Backhus said that she has tried unsuccessfully to obtain public records on the process of binding of prisoners to the gurney in the execution chamber; changing the way prisoners are covered during the execution to avoid witnesses seeing movement that could indicate pain or suffering during the administering of the drugs and the remodeling of the execution chamber.

She also sought a stay of execution, which the Supreme Court recently denied, and filed an emergency motion to stop the execution earlier this week.

Monday, the Florida Catholic Conference urged Scott to reduce Banks' penalty to life in prison without parole.

If he is executed, Banks would be the 19th Florida death row inmate executed during Scott's first term in office, the most of any Florida governor. The 43-year-old would be the 89th prisoner executed since 1979, following reinstatement of the death penalty in Florida.

Black said the effects of the murders reach past the two families. That they were committed by someone close to the family is what has altered lives.

"That's what makes it so very painful," she said, "A lot of people were devastated by this mess, but nothing can erase what happened. It takes something from your life."