A Chickasha man who was convicted of killing his 13-month-old daughter nearly 10 years ago was executed Thursday evening at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

James Patrick Malicoat, 31, was pronounced dead at 6:09 p.m. CDT, four minutes after receiving a lethal dose of drugs.

Malicoat was executed for the beating death of Tessa Leadford, whom authorities said had been in her father's care for 19 days. During that time she suffered abdominal bleeding, broken ribs, bite marks and extensive bruising.

When the curtains to the execution chamber were lifted, Malicoat - strapped to a gurney and wearing glasses - turned his head to the witness room, smiled and gave a small wave.

In his final words, Malicoat expressed remorse for his crime.

“I just want to tell everyone how sorry I am that this had to have happened, any of it,” Malicoat said to the witnesses, who including two of his spiritual advisers, three of his attorneys and two other people connected to him.

“I'm sorry I caused the death of another human, but there's nothing I can do to change it. Contrary to what some people believe, I have spent very many years going over it in my head and it's never left me. I hope someday people involved in it will move on.”

He thanked the witnesses who came to support him, then said, “That's just about it.”

He smiled at the witnesses again, then turned his head and looked at the ceiling as the drugs began being administered. He took two deep breaths and closed his eyes, and appeared to stop breathing moments later.

“He died within a few seconds of injection,” said Grady County District Attorney Bret Burns, who helped prosecute Malicoat and attended the execution. “You can't say that for his victim. Tessa took 19 days to die.”

Burns said he respected Malicoat for offering remorse, but that Malicoat needed to be executed for his crime.

No members of Tessa's family attended the execution, and neither did Malicoat's mother, Reta Luther.

Outside the prison gates, a prayer vigil was held for Tessa's family and Malicoat. Bryan Brooks, the pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Muskogee, said 10 similar vigils were being held at places across the state, including the Governor's Mansion in Oklahoma City.

“For us as Catholics, it's part of our way of showing we believe in the dignity of all human life,” Brooks said. “We believe that all human life is sacred and that each and every person has dignity from the moment of conception until a natural death, both victims of violence and people executed because of those murders.”

For his final meal request, Malicoat asked for fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, biscuits, a large Dr Pepper and a mini apple pie, Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie said.