Statement by Department of Justice Spokesperson Kerri Kupec on the Execution of Lezmond Mitchell

Department of Justice Spokesperson Kerri Kupec has issued the following statement:

“Today, Lezmond Mitchell was executed at U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute in accordance with the capital sentence imposed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in 2003.  Mitchell was pronounced dead at 6:29 EDT by the Vigo County Coroner.

In October 2001, Mitchell murdered Alyce Slim, a 63-year-old grandmother, and her nine-year-old granddaughter as part of a carjacking in Arizona.  After getting a ride from Slim in her pickup truck, Mitchell and an accomplice stabbed her 33 times and threw her body into the backseat beside her granddaughter.  Mitchell then drove the truck deep into the mountains, ordered the girl out of the truck “to lay down and die,” slit her throat twice, and crushed her head with rocks.  Mitchell and his accomplice proceeded to dismember and bury the victims’ bodies and burn their clothes.  He later confessed to the murders and led law enforcement to the victims’ remains.  In May 2003, a federal jury found Mitchell guilty of numerous federal crimes — including first-degree murder, felony murder, and carjacking resulting in death — and recommended a sentence of death, which the district court imposed.  His convictions and sentence were affirmed on appeal, and his claims for collateral relief were denied by every court that considered them.

Nearly 19 years after Lezmond Mitchell brutally ended the lives of two people, destroying the lives of many others, justice finally has been served.  In attendance at the execution this evening were representatives of the victims’ families as well as the father of the nine-year-old girl that Mitchell murdered.  Those family members, who are members of the Navajo Nation, have stated on the record that they supported implementation of the sentence returned by the jury and imposed by the court for Mitchell’s horrific federal crimes.”

Official news published at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/statement-department-justice-spokesperson-kerri-kupec-execution-lezmond-mitchell

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originally published at Law - NORLY NEWS