Tennessee Executes Man Who Raped, Killed Child

Charlotte Stout went to the execution of the man who raped and killed her 8-year-old daughter hoping for an apology.

She didn’t get one.

Robert Glen Coe was executed by injection early Wednesday, becoming the first person put to death in Tennessee in 40 years. Coe told Stout he forgave her for helping the state kill him.

Though she didn’t get the remorseful apology she’s sought for more than 20 years, Stout did find peace with his death.

“Please do not forget Cary’s words--’Jesus loves you.’ These are her legacy to her killer, to Robert Coe’s family and to us. My child will finally rest in peace,” she said.

Coe, 44, kidnapped Cary Ann in 1979 from a church parking lot in Greenfield, a West Tennessee community, as she rode bicycles with her brother.

Coe told authorities he raped her, and when the little girl told him, “Jesus loves you,” he decided to kill her because it wasn’t true.

When he was rolled into the death chamber, Coe looked to the witness room where his two sisters, brother and sister-in-law were watching from 10 feet away through a plate-glass window.

He said, “I love you all with all my heart and soul.”

He then said, “I forgive the state of Tennessee for murdering me for something I did not do. I’m not guilty of this crime, and that’s the God’s truth.

“Charlotte Stout, I forgive you, too, for helping the state kill me.”

His final words were: “Forgive everyone. You all hear me? God loves you. I’m gone. I’ll see you in heaven. Bye, bye.”

Coe is the 126th person executed by Tennessee since official records began in 1916, the first since 1960 and the first ever by lethal injection.