McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma executed inmate Benjamin Cole on Thursday morning despite claims from his attorneys that he had been severely mentally ill.

Cole was pronounced dead at 10:22 a.m. at Oklahoma's state penitentiary in McAlester. He was the sixth Oklahoma inmate to be executed since the state resumed carrying them out in October 2021.

Cole delivered a sometimes rambling, two-minute prayer while strapped to the gurney.

"Choose Jesus while you still can," he said.

The first of the three lethal execution drugs began to flow at 10:06 a.m., and Cole was declared unconscious at 10:12. H...