Utah State Correctional Facility

Honie, 48, was convicted of aggravated murder in the brutal July 1998 death of his girlfriend’s mother, Claudia Benn. His execution followed decades of failed appeals.

Tressa Honie is caught between anger and grief. That’s because her father, Taberon Dave Honie, was executed by lethal injection and her grandmother is the person he brutally murdered in 1998.

Taberon Dave Honie is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Aug. 8 for the 1998 killing of his girlfriend’s mother.

Relatives of victim Claudia Benn offered emotional testimony about the crime on Tuesday before Utah's parole board. They said her slashing and stabbing death still traumatizes their close-knit Native American community.

The two-day commutation hearing began Monday in Salt Lake City for Taberon Dave Honie. He was found guilty of murder in the death of his girlfriend’s mother in 1998.

Families described mosquito infestations and insufficient access to medication after inmates moved in two years ago. Now, they say there has been good progress.

The Utah Department of Corrections brought in help from other state agencies to address medical issues at the new Salt Lake City facility.

“In the last six weeks, and four of those weeks have been in the new prison, the Utah Prisoner Advocate Network has received 73 emails related to significant medical concern,” said the advocacy group's director and cofounder.

Inmates have access to a growing list of college-level classes, but not all provide college credit and none currently lead to a bachelor’s degree. That could soon change.

In the coming weeks, Utah State Correctional Facility officials will begin to transfer prisoners from the Draper location to the new Salt Lake City prison.