The men smoked pot late into the night, and before dawn the next morning an argument between Higgs and Tanji prompted her to grab a knife in the kitchen before Haynes persuaded her to drop it. Higgs was 23 on the evening of January 26, 1996, when he, Willis Haynes and a third man, Victor Gloria, picked up the three women in Washington, DC, and drove them to Higgs' apartment in Laurel, Maryland, to drink alcohol and listen to music. In October 2000, a federal jury in Maryland convicted Higgs of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the killings of Tamika Black, 19 Mishann Chinn, 23 and Tanji Jackson, 21. Higgs' shocking crimes: How he conspired to kidnap and kill three women after an argument during a triple-date Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana on Thursday ahead of Johnson's death His death sentence was the first imposed in the modern era of the federal system in Maryland, which abolished the death penalty in 2013.Īn activist in opposition to the death penalty protests during a snowstorm outside of the U.S. Higgs' difficult upbringing was not meaningfully presented to the jury at trial,' his attorneys wrote. Higgs had a traumatic childhood and lost his mother to cancer when he was 10, the petition says. Higgs' December 19 petition for clemency says he has been a model prisoner and dedicated father to a son born shortly after his arrest. 'And particularly for Dustin, who didn't shoot anybody. 'In the midst of the pandemic and everything that´s going on right now in the country, it seems just insane to move forward with these executions,' Nolan said recently. District Judge Peter Messitte wrote in a December 29 ruling.
Dustin higgs innocent trial#
'He received a fair trial and was convicted and sentenced to death by a unanimous jury for a despicable crime,' U.S. Yet, the federal judge who presided over Higgs' trial two decades ago says he 'merits little compassion.' Trump has overseen 13 executions after he resumed executions in July despite the pandemic, making him the most prolific president in carrying out death sentences since Grover ClevelandĪs the injection was administered, loud sobs of a woman crying inconsolably echoed for several minutes from a room reserved for Higgs' family, as his eyes rolled back in his head, showing the whites of his eyes before he stopped moving entirely. His defense team won a temporary stay on his execution this week after he and Johnson tested positive for COVID-10 last month.ĭefense attorneys claimed the infections put them at greater risk of unnecessary suffering during the lethal injections but higher courts overruled those decisions, allowing the executions to go forward. Higgs was found guilty of conspiring with two other men to kidnap and murder three young women in Washington DC on one night in January 1996. It marked the third federal execution at Terre Haute in four days, after womb raider Lisa Montgomery was put to death on Wednesday and convicted drug trafficker Corey Johnson on Thursday. The prison had allegedly rushed to carry out the execution Saturday after receiving a cost-saving offer from the unidentified killing team to carry out three in a week, according to The Sun.
![dustin higgs innocent dustin higgs innocent](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/1704376/dustin-higgs.png)
Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 1.23am on Saturday after receiving a lethal injection of pentobarbital in the federal death chamber at the U.S. The federal execution of convicted murderer Dustin John Higgs had been fast-tracked due to a discount deal with a mystery killing squad, according to new reports. Published: 21:39 BST, 16 January 2021 | Updated: 22:41 BST, 16 January 2021ĭustin John Higgs, 48, was executed by lethal injection on Friday but new reports claim it was rushed through by a mystery execution team who carry out three in a week His lawyers argued that it was unfair to execute him because triggerman got lifeīy Frances Mulraney and Keith Griffith For.Higgs conspired to kidnap and kill group of three women in D.C.Womb raider Lisa Montgomery was put to death on Wednesday and convicted drug trafficker Corey Johnson on Thursday.Penitentiary in Terre Haute in the past four days Higgs was the third federal execution carried out in the U.S.
![dustin higgs innocent dustin higgs innocent](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dpG9s2B52tw/maxresdefault.jpg)