A federal judge ordered a halt on the last two executions scheduled under the Trump administration.
The inmates were said to have contracted the coronavirus, according to a report from the Associated Press.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal judge halts executions of last 2 Trump-era death row inmates, who were diagnosed with COVID-19.
— Allison Papson (@AllisonPapson) January 12, 2021
Trump administration officials have been scrambling to complete their execution schedule before the incoming Biden administration. President-elect Joe Biden has indicated he isn’t supportive of the death penalty and would use his time in office to end it.
On Tuesday, a federal judge in Indiana halted the execution of convicted murderer Lisa Montgomery, who would have become the first woman sent to death in 67 years.
A petition signed by over 265,000 people advocated against the execution of Montgomery, citing that she was mentally ill and a survivor of fetal alcohol syndrome, child sex trafficking, and other abuses.
Montgomery was found guilty of strangling a pregnant woman from Missouri in 2004 and claiming her unborn baby as her own.
The last woman executed by the federal government was Bonnie Heady, who pleaded guilty with her husband to murdering a child they kidnapped for a $600,000 ransom.
