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Dustin Higgs

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Dustin Higgs
BornDustin John Higgs
(1972-03-10) March 10, 1972 (age 52)
Laurel, Maryland, U.S.
Criminal statusExecution, scheduled for January 15, 2021, now on hold
Conviction(s)Capital Murder (3 counts)
Criminal penaltyDeath (October 26, 2000)
Accomplice(s)Willis Mark Haynes
Victor Gloria
Details
VictimsTamika Black (aged 19)
Tanji Jackson (aged 21)
Mishann Chinn (aged 23)
DateJanuary 27, 1996
Imprisoned atUnited States Penitentiary, Terre Haute

Dustin John Higgs (born March 10, 1972) is an African-American man currently on federal death row. Higgs was sentenced to death by the United States federal government for his role in the January 1996 murders of three African-American women in Maryland. 19-year-old Tamika Black, 21-year-old Tanji Jackson, and 23-year-old Mishann Chinn, were all shot and killed near the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, on the Patuxent Research Refuge, in Prince George's County, Maryland. Because the murders occurred on the Patuxent Research Refuge, which is classed as federal land, Higgs was tried by the federal government rather than by the state of Maryland. Higgs was scheduled for execution on January 15, 2021. His case, conviction, and upcoming execution are the subject of multiple controversies.

The main controversy surrounding Higgs's case is that Higgs did not personally kill any of the three victims. The man who fatally shot all three women to death, Willis Mark Haynes, was sentenced to life plus 45 years, while Higgs, who remained in a vehicle when the killings took place, received a death sentence. The prosecution argues that although Higgs did not kill anyone, he was the ringleader, and not only ordered Haynes to kill the women but bullied him into it. Higgs and his defense team maintain his innocence, arguing that although he was involved, he was merely a witness to the crime, and was set up by Haynes and another witness, Victor Gloria. Higgs did not force or threaten Haynes to kill any of the victims, as confirmed by Haynes in a sworn affidavit, which he signed in 2012.

Should Higgs be executed, he could become the last person who will be executed by the United States federal government. Despite being in favor of capital punishment in the past, president-elect of the United States Joe Biden opposes capital punishment in the United States, meaning it is highly unlikely anyone else will be executed by the federal government beyond his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Higgs's scheduled execution was due to take place on January 15, 2021, only five days prior; however, Higgs's execution was placed on hold by a federal judge's ruling on January 12, 2021.

Early life

Dustin John Higgs was born in Maryland on March 10, 1972, to Alfonso Higgs and Marilyn M. Bennett (1945 – 1982). Alfonso was reportedly abusive and would regularly beat Marilyn and Dustin in their family home. He was also a drug dealer who neglected Dustin and his other children. When Dustin was 8-years-old, Marilyn was diagnosed with cancer. She died in 1982 when Dustin was only 10. Family members of Dustin and friends who knew him reported a big change in his mood after his mother's death.

Patuxent Research Refuge murders

On the evening of Friday, January 26, 1996, Dustin Higgs, Willis Haynes, and Victor Gloria, drove from Higgs's apartment in Laurel, Maryland to Washington, D.C., to pick up Tamika Black, Tanji Jackson, and Mishann Chinn. Dates had been arranged for each of the men and women and the groups had agreed to meet and hang out together. The six of them travelled in Higgs's vehicle, a blue Mazda MPV van, and returned to his apartment to drink alcohol, smoke marijuana and listen to music. The partying continued into the early hours of the morning on January 27.

At some point during the night, an argument broke out and the women left the apartment. Higgs, Haynes, and Gloria, then headed out after them, with Higgs driving his own vehicle and Haynes sitting in the front passenger seat. Gloria was sitting in the back of the van behind Higgs. Higgs drove his van to the side of the road where the women were walking. They picked up the women and offered them a ride home, which they willingly accepted. The women got into the back of the vehicle and Higgs drove out of Laurel. Neighbors in the area reported hearing and seeing the three women laughing and talking in the early hours of that morning.

Higgs drove his van along a state road onto the Patuxent Research Refuge and stopped the vehicle near the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. The women got out of the van and Haynes exited the vehicle also. Haynes then fatally shot each of the three women to death with a silver .38 caliber pistol. Multiple shots were fired before Haynes returned to the van and closed the door. The gun was then disposed of and thrown into the Anacostia River. In the early hours of January 27, a passing motorist found the bodies of the three women and contacted the Park Police. Jackson's day planner was found at the scene with Higgs's nickname and telephone number recorded in it. According to the medical examiner, Jackson and Black had each been shot once in the chest and once in the back. Chinn had been shot once in the back of the head.

Aftermath

The murders went unsolved for nearly three years. Higgs was first questioned about the murders in March 1996 at his apartment. He acknowledged that he knew Jackson and had talked to her the night before she died. He was arrested and a search of his apartment was conducted as he was suspected of being involved in an unrelated bank fraud violation. Police found cocaine and firearms in his apartment. Higgs was arrested on unrelated federal drug charges and on May 12, 1997, pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He was sentenced to seventeen years in a federal prison for the crime and remained in custody.

In October 1998, Gloria and Haynes were arrested on unrelated drug charges. After being questioned, police learned of more details surrounding the Patuxent Research Refuge murders in Prince George's County. On December 21, 1998, both Higgs and Haynes were indicted by a federal grand jury on murder charges. Higgs was already in custody at the time, serving his 17-year-sentence for the unrelated drug offense.

Trial

Higgs and Haynes were tried separately in 2000. Victor Gloria pleaded guilty to being an accessory-after-the-fact to the killings, a charge that only carried a maximum penalty of fifteen years in prison. Gloria cut a deal however and in exchange for his testimony against Higgs and Haynes he was sentenced to seven years in prison. His testimony was the main piece of evidence used in Higgs's trial.

Prosecution's version of events

The prosecution's version of events is that Higgs got into a heated argument with Tanji Jackson at his apartment on the evening of January 26. Jackson had supposedly taken a knife from the kitchen and threatened Higgs after she rejected his alleged sexual advances towards her. After the argument, the women left the apartment enraged. According to Gloria, as she left the apartment she made some kind of threat. As Higgs watched the women leave, he saw Jackson appear to write down his license plate number. According to Gloria, this angered Higgs, who was concerned she knew people who may retaliate against him.

The men then left the apartment and headed after them in Higgs's van. They pulled over and offered the women a ride home, which they accepted. The prosecution accepts that they were not forced into the vehicle or taken against their will. Higgs did not drive the correct way back to Washington, D.C., and instead drove to the Patuxent Research Refuge. Higgs pulled over at a secluded location and ordered the women out of the van. The women then asked if they were being forced to walk home to which Higgs responded "something like that." As the women got out of the van, Higgs took out a handgun and handed it to Haynes. According to Haynes's testimony, Higgs then said to him "better make sure they're dead". Haynes then exited the van and Gloria heard gunshots. He witnessed Haynes shoot one of the women in the chest. After the women were killed and the gun was disposed of, Higgs drove back to his apartment with Haynes and Gloria. Gloria was later dropped off at a fast-food restaurant, where he was told to keep his mouth shut.

Defense's version of events

The defense argues that Higgs's supposed reason for wanting the women killed, being nothing more than Jackson rejecting his sexual advances and possibly knowing people who may have retaliated against him, is a very weak motive for ordering three murders. They say the idea that the women willingly got into the van for a lift home also contradicts the idea that Jackson was angry at Higgs and would seek revenge. The defense claims that the real reason the women were killed was because they owed Haynes and some of his associates drug money. Two inmates at the Charles County Detention Center said Haynes had claimed to them to have a much bigger role in the killings. One argued Haynes was more of a partner to Higgs than someone who followed orders. They said the victims owed him drug money and that also Haynes "had to kill" one of the women because she had allegedly been trying to set him up.

Higgs's lawyer said he only learned of the witnesses after reviewing Haynes's trial record, by which time Higgs had already been sentenced to death. The evidence would supposedly have made both Haynes and Higgs equally culpable in the eyes of the jury, and the failure to provide the statements violated the brady rule. According to the defense, both Gloria and Haynes repeatedly changed their stories, with Haynes admitting in 2012 in a sworn affidavit, which he personally signed, that Higgs had not forced or bullied him into doing anything, something the prosecution had claimed at Higgs's trial.

Verdict

Ultimately, Higgs and Haynes were both found guilty of the murders. On August 24, 2000, Haynes was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus 45 years. The federal judge at Haynes's trial claimed he had shown no remorse for the killings. He remains incarcerated at United States Penitentiary, Beaumont. His Federal Bureau of Prisons register number is #35389-037.

On October 26, 2000, Higgs was sentenced to death, becoming the first person from Maryland to be sentenced to death in the federal court system. He remains incarcerated at United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute awaiting execution. His Federal Bureau of Prisons register number is #31133-037.

On November 22, 2000, Gloria was sentenced to eighty-four months in a federal prison. He was released on February 4, 2006, serving a total of just over five years and two months in prison. His Federal Bureau of Prisons register number was #35417-037.

Controversy and scheduled execution

Multiple controversies surround Higgs's case. The first being that he was sentenced to death despite not personally shooting or killing any of the three women himself. The case against him was mainly built on the testimonies of Gloria and Haynes, who had both cut deals and reportedly changed their stories multiple times. The fact the murders were committed on federal land further complicated things. Higgs was tried by the federal government rather than by the state of Maryland. Had the murders occurred further down the road, the women would not have been killed on the Patuxent Research Refuge, and Higgs would have been tried by the state of Maryland instead of by the federal government. If he had been tried by the state of Maryland, based on state law, he would not have been eligible for the death penalty at all. The state of Maryland also abolished the death penalty in 2013, with all remaining death row inmates resentenced to life without parole. Prior to the abolition, the last execution in Maryland occurred in 2005, when Wesley Baker was executed for the June 1991 murder of 49-year-old Jane Tyson.

Higgs was scheduled to be executed on January 15, 2021, just five days before Joe Biden's inauguration as president of the United States. Should it go ahead, he will be executed during a lame duck period, something that has not been seen in the United States (until recently) in over a century. The scheduled execution was further complicated when it was confirmed that Higgs had tested positive for COVID-19. Higgs's execution was placed on hold by a federal judge's ruling on January 12, 2021.

If executed, he could become the last person who will be executed by the United States federal government, due to president-elect of the United States Joe Biden's opposition to capital punishment in the United States.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Md. Man Sentenced to Die for Ordering '96 Triple Slayings". The Washington Post. October 27, 2000.
  2. "Triple Slaying Trial Opens With Surprise Admission". The Washington Post. May 3, 2000.
  3. "Two death row inmates to be executed by Trump administration test positive for Covid". The Independent. December 18, 2020.
  4. ^ "Maximum Sentence In '96 Triple Killing". The Washington Post. August 25, 2000.
  5. ^ "In Trump's final days, a rush of federal executions". BBC News. December 11, 2020.
  6. ^ "Trump plans to execute four Black death row inmates before he leaves office". Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. December 14, 2020.
  7. ^ "Biden to work to end executions as government sets 3 more". Associated Press. November 21, 2020.
  8. ^ Tarm, Michael; Hollingsworth, Heather (January 12, 2021). "US carries out its 1st execution of female inmate since 1953". AP News. Associated Press. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  9. ^ "Dustin Higgs Clemency Video". Off Center Media. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  10. "Save Dustin J. Higgs". savedustinjhiggs.com. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  11. "UNITED STATES v. HIGGS". FindLaw. December 22, 2003. Retrieved January 1, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. ^ "United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Dustin John Higgs, Defendant-appellant, 353 F.3d 281 (4th Cir. 2003)". Justia. December 22, 2003. Retrieved January 1, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. ^ "United States v. Higgs". Casetext. June 29, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. "2 men indicted in 1996 homicides 3 Washington women were fatally shot, left on Beltsville road". The Baltimore Sun. December 22, 1998.
  15. "Alternative Motive". savedustinjhiggs.com. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  16. "Maryland Speaker Jones urges Gov. Hogan to intervene in January federal execution case". The Baltimore Sun. December 17, 2020.
  17. ^ "Court Rejects Appeal of Triple Murderer Who Got Nine Death Sentences". Capital News Service. April 21, 2004.
  18. "Bowie man, 23, gets life term without parole in killing of 3". The Baltimore Sun. August 25, 2000.
  19. ^ "Find an inmate". bop.gov. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  20. "Judge gives man death". The Baltimore Sun. October 27, 2000.
  21. "Putting Dustin Higgs to death would not be justice". The Baltimore Sun. December 18, 2020.
  22. "Maryland abolishes death penalty as governor signs bill into law". The Guardian. May 2, 2013.
  23. "Four Remaining Maryland Death Row Inmates Will Have Their Sentences Commuted". BuzzFeed News. December 31, 2014.
  24. "Capital Punishment History Persons Executed in Maryland since 1923". dpscs.state.md.us. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  25. "Baker executed for 1991 killing". The Baltimore Sun. December 6, 2005.
  26. "Baker executed for 1991 killing". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  27. "2 federal death row inmates test positive for Covid-19". CNN. December 18, 2020.
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