CONVICTED killer Dustin Higgs was executed for kidnapping and murdering three women back in 1996.
The prisoner had been serving over 25 years in jail prior to receiving the lethal injection on Saturday morning.
Who were Dustin Higgs' victims?
Dustin Higgs, 48, was sentenced to death for the murder of three women.
He was accused of kidnapping and murdering 19-year-old Tamika Black, 21-year-old Tanji Jackson, and 23-year-old Mishann Chinn in Maryland.
The women were friends of his as he had arranged to pick them up and invite them to his apartment in Laurel, Maryland.
Once at the apartment, Higgs made advances towards Jackson, which she rejected.
Ultimately, Jackson and her friends ended up leaving together.
How did they die?
Higgs offered to take the women back to Washington DC, but instead, a secluded area in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, ordered the women out of the vehicle, gave a gun to one of his friends, and said, “better make sure they’re dead.”
One of Higgs' friends shot Black and Jackson in the chest and back, and then shot Chinn in the back of the head, killing all three women
He maintained his innocence all throughout his conviction, and prior to being administered the lethal injection, he spoke his last words on the case saying: “I'd like to say I am an innocent man as he mentioned the three women by name. "I did not order the murders.”
When was Dustin Higgs executed?
Higgs was executed on January 16.
As Higgs was administered the injection, he reportedly looked toward a room reserved for his relatives and lawyers, waved his fingers and said, “I love you.”
His eyes began to roll back and his stillness grew, with his pupils visible and his eyelids left partially open.
Ultimately, he was pronounced dead at 1.23am.
In an effort to halt his execution, Higgs’ attorneys had called on the Department of Justice to withdraw his execution date after he contracted the virus.
The litigation stated that the execution would be a violation of the US constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment while Higgs was still recovering from the virus.
To no avail, the government went through with his death, marking the 13th execution since July.
How long had Dustin Higgs been on Death Row?
Higgs was found guilty of three counts of first-degree premeditated murder, three counts of first-degree felony murder, and three counts of kidnapping resulting in death and was convicted in October of 2000.
A jury unanimously recommended nine death sentences which the court imposed.
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