TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The U.S. government has executed a drug trafficker for a series of slayings in Virginia in 1992, despite his recent COVID-19 infection.
Corey Johnson received a lethal injection Thursday at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. He’s the 12th inmate put to death there since President Donald Trump resumed federal executions in July.
Attorneys for the 52-year-old Johnson argued the injection would cause excruciating pain due to lung damage from his coronavirus infection last month.
Johnson’s execution and Friday’s scheduled execution of Dustin Higgs are the last before next week’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who opposes the federal death penalty and has pledged to end its use.
