A second federal death row inmate set to be executed next month has tested positive for COVID-19, his lawyers announced Friday.
Dec.18 (UPI) — A second federal death row inmate set to be executed next month has tested positive for COVID-19, his lawyers announced Friday. Corey Johnson,52, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Jan.14 at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., for his role in a Richmond Va., drug gang tied to 10 murders. Attorneys Don Salzman and Ron Tabak said their client tested positive for the novel coronavirus amid a “growing outbreak on federal death row.” “The government must stop conducting executions during a COVID-19 outbreak in the facility, and we have called on the Department of Justice to withdraw Mr. Johnson’s execution date,” they said. Johnson is the second federal death row inmate due to be executed next month who has tested positive for the virus. Shawn Nolan, an attorney for Dustin Higgs, announced Thursday that he was informed of his client’s illness. Nolan blamed previous executions held at USP Terre Haute — during which federal executioners from other states travel to the facility — for spreading the virus among inmates and staff. In response to a lawsuit filed by non-death row inmates in Terre Haute, the Bureau of Prisons said eight executioners who traveled to the facility to take part in Orlando Hall’s Nov.18 execution later tested positive for the virus.
