An inmate on death row scheduled to be executed mere weeks from now has tested positive for coronavirus. A lawyer for inmate Dustin John Higgs has asked for the date of Higgs’ execution to be delayed. “This is surely the result of the super spreader executions that the government has rushed to undertake in the heart of a global pandemic,” Higgs’ lawyer said in a statement. “Now our client is sick. We have asked the government to withdraw the execution date and we will ask the courts to intervene if they do not.” The Bureau of Prisons confirmed to the Associated Press that there has been a COVID-19 outbreak at the Terre Haute prison that houses death row and more than 300 inmates were positive for the virus as of Thursday. Higgs’ lawyer attributed the spike in infections to the three executions that have taken place at the facility in recent weeks, spurred on by the Trump administration. Higgs was convicted of plotting and ordering the murder of three women in 1996 after one of them rejected his advances.
