A federal inmate scheduled to be executed in the final days of the Trump administration has tested positive for coronavirus, his lawyer said Thursday.
Dustin Higgs, who was convicted of murdering three women outside of Washington, tested positive at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.
All 10 federal executions since the government reinstated the death penalty this year have taken place in Terre Haute.
“This is surely the result of the super spreader executions that the government has rushed to undertake in the heart of a global pandemic,” said Higgs‘ attorney, Shawn Nolan. “Following the two executions that took place last week and one other two weeks prior, the COVID numbers at the federal prison in Terre Haute spiked enormously.”
As of Thursday, more than 300 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Terre Haute complex, according to the bureau of prisons.
Mr. Nolan said he has asked the government to withdraw Higgs‘ execution date because of the virus. If the government refuses, he plans to take his case to the federal courts.
Higgs was convicted of ordering the 1996 murders of three women at a federal wildlife center near Beltsville. Prosecutors say Higgs kidnapped the woman after they rebuffed his advances at a party. He gave a gun to one of his friends to kill the women, according to court documents.
Mr. Nolan said Higgs should not be put to death because he didn’t kill anyone, noting that his co-defendant, who prosecutors said carried out the killings, did not get sentenced to death.
