Summary: Roane is one of three co-defendantsand fellow gang membersconvicted in the spree of11murders that took place in Virginia. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Roane was implicated in three of the slayings. When the day is over, your death will not bring my sister and the other victims back. Her lawyers argued that she had been born brain-damaged and was too mentally ill to be executed. (Co-defendant of Corey Johnson & James H. Roane Jr.). These days, he calls her every day. The execution chamber was constructed just after the passage of the 1994 crime bill, but the surrounding penitentiary predates even the interstate. Johnson has an intellectual disability that should make him ineligible for execution and Higgs hasconvinced a federal court to schedule an oral argument on whether his execution would violate federal law based in part on the fact that he was convicted in Maryland, which abolished the death penalty in 2013. Sentenced to death in 1993; died in 2019 of natural causes. They stabbed him over 50 times. On the day after Christmas, he offered condolences for the bombing in Nashville, where I live. Three men, including Hager,entered Barbara Whites apartment that night and stabbedher82 times. Summary:A jury sentenced Hager to death for his role in the stabbing death of a 19-year-old single mom in her apartment. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. Material from the Associated Press is Copyright 2023, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The number of federal death sentences carried out under Trump since 2020 is more than in the previous 56 years combined, reducing the number of prisoners on federal death row by nearly a quarter. He was not the intended target. In the early Saturday execution of Higgs, officials inside the execution chamber were more diligent about their keeping masks on after a federal judge expressed concern that officials at Johnsons execution were lax about coronavirus precautions. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. He shared his dismay over the execution of Bernard, who was a close friend. Higgs is scheduled to be executed on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, at the federal prison in Terre Haute. I know you didnt.. Her kids, then ages 8 and 10, came to ask what was wrong. When my brother came home from the hospital, I was the first face he saw when he opened his eyes when my aunt laid him on the couch, she said. Daniel Lewis Lee execution: Pro-death penalty advocate speaks. Death sentence commuted by. The number of federal death sentences carried out under Trump since 2020 is more than in the previous 56 years combined, reducing the number of prisoners on federal death row by nearly a quarter. In 1994 the FBI intercepted phone calls during which Davis talked about killing New Orleans resident Kim Groves after shefiled a complaint against him with the then-Internal Affairs Division of the New Orleans Police Department. The duo targeted Castro-Rodriguez because he previously intervened to help a Bureau of Prisons Employee being attacked by another inmate. Ortiz's role was limited to being present at the time of the murder. He took 12-year-old Lexis Roberts to Louisiana, where he shot her and cut her throat. When Dustin first came home from the hospital, I was there, Wingate said. Higgs wanted to open a barbershop and Wingate wanted to be a funeral director. On October 11, 2000, jurors convicted Higgs. He tried to steal three money orders and a wallet, according to the Savannah Morning News. Lawrence had been convicted of at least two other bank robberies in Ohio. Nelson kidnapped a 10-year-old girl rollerblading in front of her home, and in a forest behind a church, raped her and strangled her to death with a wire. Cleveland's was also the last presidency during which the number of civilians executed federally was in the double digits in one year, 1896, during his second term. Convicted and sentenced to death for the carjacking, kidnapping, and death of a restaurant owner. Summary:Known as the Boston Marathon bomber, Tsarnaev planted pressure cookerswith help from his brother. Victor believed Willis and so did I, she said. Gloria turned to ask Higgs what he was doing, but saw Higgs holding the steering wheel and watching the shootings from the rearview mirror, said the 2013 ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Summary: Umana, a member of a gang, had dinner at a Greensboro restaurant when him and two other patrons who did not belong to the gang exchanged words. Prosecutors said Umana then pulled a semi-automatic pistol and shot the twobrothersin the restaurant. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. by Dustin didnt threaten me. Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? State of conviction: District ofSouth Carolina. That is one of many reasons that our bond is so strong today. That argument is set for January 27 12 days after Higgs is supposed to die. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. Neither did Wilkinson, who prosecuted Higgss case alongside Johnston and still works for the Justice Department. Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m. Mikos was convicted in May 2005. Montgomery, 52, was executed by lethal injection at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute. Aware at that point that something was amiss, one of the women asked if they were going to have to walk from here and Higgs responded something like that, according to court documents. -- The Trump administration early Saturday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just a few days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe. Havenner told Weidenfeld that despite Glorias new statements to police, he told her that hed been asleep when Haynes shot the three women. Sentenced to death in 1996; overturned in 2019 and upheld in 2020. Convicted for actions stemming from an attempted bank robbery committed with several others during which two bank employees were killed. When Higgs called her after the charges were filed, I remember him saying, You know I didnt. And I said, You dont even have to finish that sentence. His death sentence was the first imposed in the modern era of the federal system in Maryland, which abolished the death penalty in 2013. Summary: A jury convicted Battle forbludgeoningprison guard D'Antonio Andrew Washington to death with a ball-peen hammer in Atlanta he'd obtained from a mechanical services work crew. (Co-defendant of Chadrick Fulks). A federal appeals court reversed his death sentence this year for ineffective assistance of counsel. Convicted of carjacking related homicide of a 63-year-old woman and her 9-year-old granddaughter. Montgomery's lawyer, Kelley Henry, said that everyone who had participated in the execution "should feel shame". In a dramatic move late on Monday, a judge in Indiana had halted the scheduled injection until a mental competency hearing could be held. Gloria replied, That was the police.. Chutkan's order was issued less than seven hours before the execution of Daniel Lee was due to take place in Terre Haute, Indiana. Summary: A jury convicted Battle for bludgeoning prison guard D'Antonio Andrew Washington to death with a ball-peen hammer in Atlanta he'd obtained from a mechanical services work crew. There have been 50 federal executions carried out since 1927. Honken shot and killed five people two men who planned to testify against him, and a single, working mother and her 10-year-old and 6-year-old daughters. Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. district court in Washington had on Monday ordered the justice department to delay four executions scheduled for July and August. Contact Tim Evans at 317-444-6204 or tim.evans@indystar.com. Later that month, Wingate drove down to Baltimore with the aunt who had raised them both as kids. Instead of taking them home, Higgs drove them to a secluded spot in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, federal land in Laurel. In fact, she was instrumental in exposing the abuse. I never knew her to show any mercy for any criminal defendant, no matter their circumstances, she said. Coonce was already serving a life sentence for kidnapping and carjacking that involved the rape of a woman. Convicted of raping and killing a 16-year-old girl before dismembering, burning and then dumping the teen's body in a septic pond. After 11 executions waved through by the U.S. Supreme Court, few are optimistic that Johnson or Higgs will be spared. Summary:Roof opened fire during a Bible study class atthe Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Churchin Charleston. His claims are backed up by an affidavit written by Haynes in 2012, which was included in a clemency application for Higgs during the Obama administration. Summary:Ebronhad beenfound guilty of helping in the stabbing death of fellow inmate Keith Davis at a federal prison in Beaumont. McCullah was transferred from USP Allenwood to Terre Haute. I did not order the murders.. Higgs, the last federal inmate facing execution before President Donald Trump leaves office was sentenced to death for the killings of three women in a Maryland wildlife refuge in 1996. Convicted in 2002 of the 1997 kidnapping and murder of 19-year-old Rachel Timmerman, who had accused Gabrion of rape; Tried federally as victim's body was found on. Her body was found in a ravine near Crookston, Minnesota five months later. Rodriguez was a convicted sex offender at the time of the murder. After her story fell apart, she confessed to the killing. Murdered an 82-year-old hiker in a robbery at. Dustin Higgs at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. President Donald Trump's Justice Department resumed federal executions last year after a 17-year hiatus. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. This is a list of notable current and former inmates at the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute. I dont know what thats like. State of conviction: Eastern District of Texas. Convicted for the armed robbery and murder of a proprietor of a Chinese restaurant in. Weidenfeld hadseen this racist brutality up close in her decades working in Prince Georges County. Lisa Montgomery has been granted a temporary stay, and her execution has been rescheduled for January 12, 2021. Circuit Court of Appeals. Sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018; now at, In 2005, a jury convicted Fell and sentenced him to death for the kidnapping and murder of a Vermont woman in New York state, Teresca King. Traditionally, outgoing presidents have left final pending decisions on executions to their successors. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has scheduled the executions of four Death Row inmates at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute. But sometime in the coming months, U.S. Attorney Lynne A. Battaglia expects to take the unprecedented step of seeking the death penalty against someone for committing a federal crime in Maryland., The Sun cited a number of downsides. Sentenced to death on December 23, 2003. It was the first time she had seen Higgs in person in four years. The Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty at state and federal level in 1972 but reversed the decision four years later. She received a lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, after a last-minute. Despite that, the FBI was unable to stop the killing. Pressure is already building on Biden to follow through on pledges to end the federal death penalty. 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. Originally sentenced to death in 1996. Summary: The two men were found guilty and given a sentence of death for the fatal shooting of Richard Heflin, a security guard at Lindell Bank & Trust in St. Louis, during a robbery. Convicted at the age of 18 for his involvement in a carjacking and the deaths of a couple visiting Texas. The fourth has been set for Aug. 28. It could be a gang lord or a murderous carjacker or a drug smuggler, the Sun reported. Read about our approach to external linking. Read more:Two Fed Med inmates sentenced to death in killing, State of conviction: Western District of Louisiana. Even if Higgs did not direct Haynes to shoot Chinn, Jackson, and Black, he still would have been eligible for the death penalty undera felony murder prosecution. It was the first time she was going to see her brother since his sentencing trial, and she was anxious and excited. Contact Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com or 317-503-7514. State of conviction: Western District of North Carolina. State of conviction:Texas Eastern District Court. He then slit the 9-year old's throat. In a statement after the execution, Higgs' attorney, Shawn Nolan, said his client had spent decades on death row helping other inmates and "working tirelessly to fight his unjust convictions. It happens a lot, where people will give statements to the police and tell them one thing and then when I interview them, theyll tell me something else, Weidenfeld told me. On November 10, 2005, a federal jury in Maryland recommended a death sentence for Lighty for the kidnapping and murder of Eric Hayes, an alleged PCP dealer and son of a Washington DC police lieutenant, in 2001. Among those prisoners who got covid-19 last month were Higgs and former drug trafficker Corey Johnson, who was executed Thursday. The prosecutions theory of our case was bullshit, Haynes wrote. The next day, she was sentenced to death. State of conviction:Northern District of Texas. Convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping resulting in death of a 12-year-old girl in Las Vegas. And a lot of the times, it turns out that what theyre telling me is really the truth. Police, after all, rely upon myriad tactics to get suspects and witnesses to talk, including threats and promises that can provide a powerful incentive to lie. Juan Reyes was shot to death at close range on the driveway in front of his home. Summary:Rodriguez plucked college student Dru Sjodin, 22, from a mall in Grand Forks and killed her. All four men received the death penalty for crimes that included the murders ofchildren in violation of federal law. My heart goes out to them, Wingate said. Hes like, Its quiet. A woman's loud sobs echoed for several minutes from a room reserved for Higgs' family as his eyes rolled back in his head before he stopped moving. The United States halted federal executions this month, making news across the country but hitting home more so in Indiana where the death sentences are carried out. He killed nine parishioners. The lead prosecutor in Higgss case, Deborah Johnston, was an assistant states attorney in Prince Georges County before she became a federal prosecutor. No president in more than 120 years oversaw as many executions. Convicted and sentenced to death for a drug-related murder. An appeals court in Boston overturned his death sentence in July 2020 after the court said the judge at his trial did not ensure the jury was unbiased against him. 2023 BBC. Summary: Raid, formerly known as Odell Corley, was sentenced to death for a bank robbery in Porter that ended in the death of two bank employees. He waved with his fingers and said, I love you.. On Friday, after the scheduled execution of Corey Johnson on January 14, Higgs is set to be the last person to die in Trumps killing spree. Her victim, 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett, bled to death but her baby was safely recovered and returned to her family. I am not responsible for the deaths, he said softly. Summary: Tipton is one of three Richmond gang members convicted in series of drug-related murders that happened in a span of 45 days. From the archives: Retrial in Karen Styles killing, State of conviction:Western District of Michigan. He shot the man in the back. on Tuesday at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, but an order from an Indiana court requiring a mental health competency hearing . She was the first woman executed in nearly 70 years. Investigators found a day plannerinJacksons purse thatcontained Higgssaddress and license plate number. close panel. How many covert wars, miscarriages of justice, and dystopian technologies would remain hidden if our reporters werent on the beat? In his emails to me over the past month and a half, Higgs emphasized his innocence and decried the corrupt system that sent him to death row. When I then asked Mr. Gloria whether that meant that his statements and testimony concerning the events that occurred at the crime scene were not true, the investigator continued, Mr. I dont care if its a stay or a reprieve, whatever. Dustin is actually technically my first cousin, Wingate explained when we first spoke in December. More recently, Wilkinson was excoriatedby a federal judge for presenting false evidence to gain a conviction in a fraud case that was dismissed due to prosecutorial misconduct. DaQuan Darby visits his father, Dustin Higgs, at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., in 2014. I consider receiving a free pass on a murder charge to be an extraordinary benefit for a witness, he said. High-ranking member of the international street gang, Convicted in 1997 of planning and carrying out the, Convicted in 1995 of the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of U.S. Army Private. State wants to shield death penalty drug providers, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. A Kansas woman was executed Wednesday for strangling an expectant mother in Missouri and cutting the baby from her womb, the first time in nearly seven decades that the U.S. government has put to death a female inmate. Convicted and sentenced to death for involvement in the drug-related killings of a family, including two children. Agreeing tobe a witnessforthe government in exchange for a lesser sentence,Gloria testifiedthat thethree menhad been hanging out with Chinn, Jackson, and Black in Higgss apartment when Jacksonrejected Higgs. Wingate plans to be a witness. All three worked in local schools and did not fit investigators profile of women whose lives might invite violence, according toa true crime podcastthat recently exploredthe case. Before Montgomery's execution, the last woman to be executed by the US government was Bonnie Heady, who died in a gas chamber in Missouri in 1953, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Three executions are scheduled for next week, but their status . Who would hold party elites accountable to the values they proclaim to have? They are now going to go through the pain we experienced, she said. Especially consequential was evidence that the governments star witness, Gloria, was a suspect in a separate murder case in Baltimore, but the FBI did not pursue him in order to gain his help in the case against Higgs. This case resulted in the exoneration of an innocent man and the conviction of the real killer, U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said at the time. Hurst, 33, was working special duty at the Fifth Third Bank when Lawrence entered with a drawn handgun and killed the officer during an exchange of gunfire, the Columbus Dispatch reported. The hotel sits at the intersection of U.S. Highway 41 and Interstate 70. Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m. It sickened her that he had been scheduled to die on January 15 Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday. Ebron held Davis while another inmate stabbed him 106 times. Battle was. Photo: Courtesy of Dustin Higgs's defense team On the night Lisa Montgomery was executed by the. Johnson is scheduled to be executed Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, at the federal prison in Terre Haute. Many had high hopes that Brandon Bernard would be saved in December, only to see his appeals dismissed by the courts and calls for clemency ignored by the president. Three accomplices pleaded guilty and testified at the trial. (AP) A Kansas woman was executed Wednesday for strangling an expectant mother in Missouri and cutting the baby from her womb, the first time in nearly seven decades that the. He also was convicted in state court for using a claw hammer to bludgeon to death an 80-year-old woman who suffered from polio and walked with a cane. She had never known Higgs to be violent toward women. By MICHAEL TARM and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN January 15, 2021. I have also wrote a children book, and a book comprised of my reflective thoughts. The goal, he said, is to make a difference, to honor his family, and to bring them out of poverty., He also worries about how his execution will impact Wingate if it goes through. He quickly became still, his pupils visible with his eyelids left partially open. Convicted in 2016 on 162 counts, including murder in aid of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to murder another rival, receiving and transporting stolen liquor across state lines, and money laundering. Davis contacted Paul Hardy and told himhe wanted the woman killed, according to the FBI. In some ways,his case is emblematic of the death penalty as a punishment reserved not for the worst of the worst, but for those who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time in this case, facing federal murder charges in the District of Maryland in the wake of the 1994 crime bill. Summary: A jury recommended a death sentence for Savagefor 12 murders he committed and directed in the late 1980s through 2004. Son testifies: Details shared during Barrett's trial, State of conviction:Eastern District of Missouri. After driving to Stinnett's house, Montgomery overpowered the pregnant woman, strangled her with a piece of rope, and cut the baby out of her womb. But Wingate felt unprepared. Last updated on April 20, 2023 (Dates are subject to change as a result of stays and appeals.) In 2000, a federal jury in Maryland convicted Higgs of murder and kidnapping in the killings of Tamika Black, 19; Mishann Chinn, 23; and Tanji Jackson. Attorneys argued that lung damage from the illness would make them vulnerable to an especially tortuous death by lethal injection, which has been shown to cause pulmonary edema. Bill Benefiel's crimes continue to shock people. State of conviction:Western District of Arkansas. Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Federal executions had been on pause for 17 years before President Donald Trump ordered them to resume earlier last year. But she had never visited Higgs in Terre Haute. Here are the 46 men on federal death row whose trip to the execution chamber were paused. The men allegedly demanded a total of more than $5.5 million from relatives and associates, and received more than $1 million from victim's relatives. State of conviction:Eastern District of Oklahoma. Summary: Barnette carjacked a 22-year-old Donald Lee Allen near the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport then robbed him at gunpoint in nearby woods. Date of murder(s): Runyon was convicted in a murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by a Navy officers wifeand her boyfriend, who wanted her husband Cory Voss killedfor his $500,000 life insurance policy. Abelardo Arboleda Ortiz 53 11581-045 Serving a life . Convicted and sentenced to death for his involvement in the death of a Naval officer in a murder-for-hire plot in Newport News. And there were reasons to doubt Glorias credibility. Sentenced to death on September 22, 2006. All rights reserved. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a moratorium on executions while officials review the Justice Department's policies and procedures related to the deaths. Published Jan 13, 2021 TERRE HAUTE, Ind. Summary: Mikos, a podiatrist, shot Joyce Brannon six times in her church basement apartment to prevent her from testifying against him in a federal Medicare fraud case. Among those he pardoned last month is a Prince Georges County police officer who was convicted of violating the civil rights of a Latino immigrant the same year Higgs arrived on death row. To the activists who have gathered in Terre Haute since last summer, the late-night execution of Lisa Montgomery was a blow, but not a surprise. Less than a year before the murders, in July 1995, the Baltimore Sun reported that federal prosecutors were on the lookout for cases that might warrant the death penalty. Two also raped the children they killed. Higgs became angry, telling Gloria and Haynes that Jackson knew some people who could hurt him. Copyright 2023, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. He ordered a firebombing of the home of Eugene Coleman, a federal witness at the time. On September 6, 2012, Peterson was found guilty of the premeditated murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Death sentence vacated on grounds of intellectual disability on June 18, 2019. In a 2014 affidavit, Higgss trial attorney Henry Trainor wrote that the information about Gloria would have altered the case significantly.