Indianapolis News and HeadlinesIndianapolis Local NewsIndianapolis Crime News

Actions

Judge blocks federal executions hours before lethal injection scheduled in Terre Haute

lee.PNG
Posted at 10:31 AM, Jul 13, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-13 10:54:18-04

TERRE HAUTE — The first federal execution in 17 years is on hold after a U.S. judge ordered a new delay on federal executions.

Daniel Lewis Lee, of Yukon, Oklahoma, was scheduled to be executed at 4 p.m. Monday at the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute.

A U.S. district judge ordered the delay on federal executions on Monday morning. Lee's execution had previously been been suspended late Friday following a decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Trump administration is certain to ask a higher court to allow the executions to move forward, according to the Associated Press.

Lee is one of four people who are scheduled to be executed at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute. Two other men are set to be put to death this week, while another execution is scheduled for August.

The executions, pushed by the Trump administration, would be the first carried out at the federal level since 2003.

Lee was convicted of killing a family of three in Arkansas in 1996.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.