Editor's note: KSL.com reporter Pat Reavy was one of seven reporters chosen to witness the execution of Taberon Dave Honie. It was the third execution he has witnessed.

SALT LAKE CITY — "I love you all. Take care," Taberon Dave Honie said shortly before two doses of pentobarbital were injected into him.

Seventeen minutes later, a machine monitoring Honie's heart rate showed a flat line. Not long after that, at 12:25 a.m. Thursday, Honie was officially pronounced dead, becoming the eighth person executed by the state of Utah since 1977.

The death sentence for Honie, 48, was carried out by lethal injection for the July 9, 1998, murder of 49-year-old Claudia Marie Benn in Cedar City in front of her three granddaughters.

KSL.com was among the seven media witnesses to the execution. Four of Honie's family members and one of his lawyers were also chosen to be witnesses, while seven of Benn's relatives were expected to be there, though the Utah Department of Corrections says not all of them showed up. In addition, several current and former prosecutors and law enforcers from Iron Country witnessed the event as well as several state lawmakers.

Media witnesses gathered about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday and were loaded into a transport van to be driven a short distance to the Antelope facility, which houses maximum security male inmates and is where the execution chamber is located.

The 24 feet by 38 feet execution chamber had four small and separated rooms for each of the witness groups: media, Honie's relatives, Benn's relatives and government officials. Each room has a reflective window looking into the brightly lit chamber. Those inside the execution chamber could not see the witnesses.

After the witnesses were taken to their rooms, they waited as final preparations were made inside the chamber. When corrections officials were ready, they pulled back the curtains to each room.

Honie, wearing a bright orange prison jumpsuit and glasses and his hair in a ponytail, was already strapped down to a gurney with arms outstretched to each side and an IV in each arm. The tubes to his IVs ran through a slit in the wall behind his head to a back room where the people administrating the fatal drugs were never seen. Honie was also strapped down to the gurney at the ankles, right below his knees and at his thighs, according to corrections officials, although that could not be seen by witnesses because a white sheet covered him from the waist down.

Bart Mortensen, the warden of the Utah State Correctional Facility, and Randall Honey, the operations director at the prison, were in the room with Honie, standing on each side of him. After Mortensen read the execution warrant for Honie, he held a microphone up to him and asked if he had any last words.

"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," he said in a clear and seemingly calm voice.

At 12:04 a.m. Thursday, the first dose of pentobarbital was given. From the beginning, Honie's right foot moved in a rapid motion, as if he was tapping his foot in the air. Even though corrections officials say Honie was cooperative throughout the entire evening, the foot twitching was likely due to nerves.

"He was nervous going in there, I mean, rightfully so," Honey said.

Not long after the lethal injection began, Honie lifted his head up and appeared to say something to the warden, although the microphone was turned off by that point.

"He simply stated, 'Thank you for taking care of my family,' And then he raised up his head and looked over to where his family was viewing and said, 'I love you,'" Honey explained after the execution. His mother allegedly said "I love you, son" in return, according to witnesses.

After about 30 seconds of deep breaths, Honie's head laid back on the gurney for the final time. At 12:13 a.m., a second dose of pentobarbital was administered — something corrections officials say was pre-planned. For 17 minutes after the lethal injection process began, the color in Honie's body slowly faded away as his mouth remained open, his right hand stayed in a fist-like position, and his glasses slowly slid up his face. But he never moved again.

Honey kept checking the electrocardiogram, or EKG monitor, sitting on the gurney next to Honie's head. When it showed his heart had stopped, Honey and Mortensen pulled the white sheet over Honie's head so it now completely covered his body. The curtains for the witness rooms were then closed.

A medical person was brought into the room to confirm his death and made the pronouncement at 12:25 a.m.

Corrections officials then fulfilled one of Honie's wishes for a traditional Hopi death ritual. His father and a cousin were allowed to enter the room and used a few feathers and cornmeal in "laying a path for the soul to leave the room."

"According to their beliefs, the soul after their death could potentially get trapped … so they performed their ceremony to release the soul so that he can return back," Honey said.

A representative from the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office then took nearly an hour to document and remove Honie's body from the room. The room was then disinfected and the media was allowed inside the chamber where there was an almost overwhelming smell of cleaning chemicals.

Read More:

Utah executes convicted killer Taberon Honie

The state of Utah executed Taberon Dave Honie by lethal injection just after midnight Thursday, 25 years after he was convicted of brutally killing his ex-girlfriend's mother in front of her three granddaughters.

After pictures of the room were taken, the media was driven back to the Stephen R. Anderson building at the entrance of the prison about 2 a.m., where reporters had been set up since Wednesday afternoon. Department of Corrections Executive Director Brian Redd then gave his final thoughts, stating that more than 200 people who had been preparing for months played a role in the execution, which he believes went very smoothly.

"No one involved takes joy in carrying out this responsibility. But we recognize it's one of our statutory duties and we take it seriously," he said. "This is a significant event. And I watched our staff fulfill these responsibilities in a respectful, professional and dignified manner."

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