As Maryland Man Is Put To Death, Unprecedented String Of Trump-era Federal Executions Ends

BALTIMORE — Dustin John Higgs, who was convicted of murdering three women in Prince George’s County in 1996, was executed early Saturday morning, the 13th federal inmate put to death in six months by the outgoing Trump administration. After a U.S. Supreme Court order Friday night lifted a stay on his execution, Higgs, 48, became the final inmate put to death under Trump since his administration resumed federal executions in July after a 17-year hiatus. “The government completed its unprecedented slaughter of 13 human beings tonight,” said Shawn Nolan, the public defender who represented Higgs. Calling him “a fine man, a terrific father, brother and nephew,” Nolan said there was no reason to kill him, a Black man, and particularly on Martin Luther King’s birthday, which was Friday.