LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- Ohio has executed a religious cult leader for killing a family of five who followed his teachings.

The youngest victim was a 7-year-old girl.

Jeffrey Lundgren, 56, was put to death just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-minute appeal for a delay so Lundgren could join a lawsuit challenging Ohio's use of lethal injection.

Lundgren made an eight-second statement before he was put to death.

"For my last words, I'd like to profess my love for God, my family, my children and my beloved wife, Kathryn. I am because you are," he said.

The lethal injection took about six seconds to kill him, authorities said. The official time of death was 10:26 a.m. The entire process took 25 minutes.

It cost $385,000 to keep Lundgren incarcerated for 16 years. His execution cost $74.16.

Several people witnessed the execution, including two of the victim's brothers along with U.S. Rep. Steve Latourette. Latourette was the Lake County prosecutor when Lundgren was convicted of the murders.

Lundgren's attorneys did not show up for the execution and no one claimed the body. The state will bury him in Chillicothe.

Lundgren and his followers killed five members of the Avery family and buried them in a pit under a barn on April 17, 1989. The family had followed his teachings and moved to northeast Ohio to be with Lundgren in 1987.

Officials said Lundgren pulled the trigger, killing Dennis Avery, his wife, Cheryl, and their children: Trina, 15; Becky, 13; and Karen, 6. After getting a tip, their bodies were found nine months later.

The self-proclaimed prophet then moved the cult to West Virginia.

After a nationwide search and help by former cult members, Lundgren, his son, Damon, and his wife, Alice, were found in California and brought back to northeast Ohio to stand trial.

Appeals Didn't Work

Late Monday night, a federal appeals court in Cincinnati overturned a ruling that had delayed the execution to allow Lundgren to join a lawsuit challenging Ohio's use of lethal injection.

Lundgren's attorney, James Jenkins, appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lundgren is the 25th Ohio execution since the death penalty was reinstated in 1999.