Attorneys for a man scheduled for execution next week have asked a federal judge to delay the sentence, over concerns about the coronavirus.
Daniel Lee is scheduled to be executed at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute July 13. Lee’s attorneys asked a federal judge to move that date to the Spring of 2021, citing safety concerns posed by the virus.
One inmate at the facility died from the virus, and all visitation has been indefinitely suspended.
Lee and another man Chevie Kehoe were convicted in 1999 for the 1996 murders of a family of three, including an 8-year-old girl in Arkansas.
In a video released last year, Earlene Peterson, the mother and grandmother of two of Lee's victims urged President Trump not to execute Lee.
If Lee’s execution is carried out, it would be the first federal execution since 2003. Two other men are scheduled to be executed the same week at the same facility: Wesley Purkey on July 15 and Dustin Honken on July 17.
A fourth man, Keith Nelson is scheduled to be put to death August 28.
Last month the United States Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal blocking all four executions. Attorneys for the inmates were challenging the government’s execution method.
