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Only Native American on federal death row set to be executed in Terre Haute

This undated family photo provided by Auska Mitchell shows Lezmond Mitchell, who is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., for the 2001 killing of Alyce Slim and her granddaughter. The Navajo government is pushing to spare his life on the basis cultural beliefs and sovereignty. Mitchell was the first Native American sentenced to death since the resumption of the federal death penalty in 1994 and the only Native American awaiting his punishment. (Courtesy Auska Mitchell via AP)

By: Associated Press

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CHICAGO — The only Native American on federal death row is set to die Wednesday at the federal prison in Terre Haute for slaying a 9-year-old and her grandmother.

Many Navajos are hoping for last-minute intervention by President Donald Trump to halt the execution scheduled for Wednesday.

If Lezmond Mitchell is put to death, he'd be the fourth federal inmate executed this year. That would mean the federal government will have carried out more executions in 2020 than in the previous 56 years combined.

Mitchell and an accomplice were convicted of killing Tiffany Lee and 63-year-old Alyce Slim after Slim offered them a lift on the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation.

Navajo leaders say the execution would violate tribal culture and sovereignty.

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Only Native American on federal death row set to be executed in Terre Haute

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