[7], Dustin John Higgs was born in Poughkeepsie, New York,[8] on March 10, 1972,[9] to Alfonso Higgs and Marilyn M. Bennett (1945–1982). [2] I was pregnant, alone, and missed my sister. “Your actions in taking the lives of Tanji Jackson, Mishann Chinn and Tamika Black were heartbreaking. Higgs drove the van into the Patuxent wildlife refuge, a federal property within the jurisdiction of the United States Park Police. Tamika Black, Tanji Jackson, and Mishann Chinn were all shot and killed near the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, on the Patuxent Research Refuge in Prince George's County, Maryland. [12], On the evening of January 26, 1996, Higgs, Willis Haynes and Victor Gloria drove from Higgs' apartment in Laurel, Maryland, to Washington, D.C., to pick up Tamika Black, Tanji Jackson and Mishann Chinn. Higgs drove his van to the side of the road where the women were walking. [7] His last words were "I'd like to say I am an innocent man. She died in 1982 when he was 10. Higgs was already in custody at the time, serving his 17-year trafficking sentence. Gloria was later dropped off at a fast-food restaurant, where he was told to keep his mouth shut. [21], On November 22, Gloria was sentenced to eighty-four months in a federal prison. 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. [5][6], Higgs was executed via lethal injection on January 16, 2021, becoming the thirteenth and final person executed by the federal government during the presidency of Donald Trump, when federal executions returned after a 17-year hiatus. I did not order the murders." ... One of Higgs' friends shot Black and Jackson … [21], Multiple controversies surround Higgs' case. After the women were killed and the gun was disposed of, Higgs drove back to his apartment with Haynes and Gloria. [18] One argued Haynes was more of a partner to Higgs than someone who followed orders. Higgs did not drive the correct way back to Washington, D.C., and instead drove to the Patuxent Research Refuge. We were heartbroken by your actions in the taking the lives of Tanji Jackson, Mishann Chinn, and Tamika Black. [27], The execution was controversial, in part because Higgs was executed during a lame-duck period. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. Higgs, Haynes and Gloria then headed out after them, with Higgs driving his own vehicle and Haynes sitting in the front passenger seat. Tamika Black, Tanji Jackson, and Mishann Chinn were all shot and killed near the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, on the Patuxent Research Refuge in Prince George's County, Maryland. But robbery apparently was not a motive in their deaths, police said. The women's purses, undisturbed and carrying identification, were found with them. We were heartbroken by your actions in the taking the lives of Tanji Jackson, Mishann Chinn, and Tamika Black. He was accused of kidnapping and murdering 19-year-old Tamika Black, 21-year-old Tanji Jackson, and 23-year-old Mishann Chinn in Maryland. Haynes and Higgs are charged with killing Tamika Black, a teacher's aide at a parochial school; Tanji Jackson, an employee at Eleanor Roosevelt High School; and Mishann Chinn… Because this is classed as federal land , he was tried by the federal government rather than by the state of Maryland. The men followed in Higgs’ van and picked them up. A DOJ report said Higgs … As Higgs watched the women leave, he saw Jackson appear to write down his license plate number. The fact the murders were committed on federal land further complicated things. Dates had been arranged for each of the men and women and the groups had agreed to meet and hang out together. [25] Prior to the abolition, the last execution in Maryland occurred in 2005,[26] when Wesley Baker was executed for the June 1991 murder of 49-year-old Jane Tyson. [14], The men then left the apartment and headed after them in Higgs' van. Tamika Black, Tanji Jackson, and Mishann Chinn were all shot and killed near the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, on the Patuxent Research Refuge in Prince George's County, Maryland. [20] The federal judge at Haynes' trial claimed he had shown no remorse for the killings. At the time of the killings, Higgs was in a nearby car. [29] The execution was postponed by a federal judge's ruling on January 12. Dustin Higgs biography: 13 things about accused Mishann Chinn, Tanji Jackson, Tamika Black murder mastermind By Conviron Altatis on January 16, 2021 • ( Leave a comment ) Dustin John Higgs was an African-American man born in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Tanji Jackson, Tamika Black and Mishann Chinn were shot dead by Willis Haynes, who was sentenced to life plus 45 years. He is buried at Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery in his hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York. J.B. Pritzker gives a coronavirus update, After Twitter outcry, 5 women detail Chris D’Elia’s alleged sexual improprieties. [17] The defense claims that the real reason the women were killed was because they owed Haynes and some of his associates drug money. He had also tested positive for COVID-19 a few weeks prior. According to the medical examiner, Jackson and Black had each been shot once in the chest and once in the back. On May 12, 1997, he pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine. In January 1996, Higgs and two friends drove from Washington, DC to Maryland to pick up Black, Jackson, and Chinn, whom Higgs had invited to his apartment in Laurel, Maryland. Three Washington, D.C., women were last seen alive together late Friday, about five hours before their bodies were found lined up in a row on a rural road near Laurel, Md., investigators said Sunday. [6], Ultimately, Higgs and Haynes were found guilty of the murders. He was arrested and his apartment searched, as he was suspected of an unrelated bank fraud violation. The six of them traveled in Higgs' vehicle, a blue Mazda MPV van, and returned to his apartment to drink alcohol, smoke marijuana and listen to music. obstructed the investigation of the murders of Tamika Black, Mishann Chinn and Tanji Jackson. On December 21, Higgs and Haynes were indicted by a federal grand jury on murder charges. But the office would not release any information Sunday. A Baltimore medical examiner performed autopsies Saturday on Mishann Chinn, 23; Tanji Jackson, 21; and Tamika Black, 19. 23; and Tanji Jackson, 21. Higgs was tried by the federal government rather than by the state of Maryland. Higgs is accused of kidnapping and murdering three women: Tamika Black, 19; Tanji Jackson, 21; and Mishann Chinn, 23. Higgs is on death row for kidnapping and murdering three women – 19-year-old Tamika Black, 21-year-old Tanji Jackson, and 23-year-old Mishann Chinn – in Maryland. [14], The murders went unsolved for nearly three years. Autopsies showed that Tamika Black, 19, and Tanji Jackson, 21, were both shot twice, said Donald Wright, deputy chief medical examiner for the State of Maryland. Early on January 27, a passing motorist found the women's bodies and contacted the Park Police. Higgs' victims were Tamika Black, 19; Tanji Jackson, 21; and Mishann Chinn, 23. The sister of Tanji Jackson released the following statement following the execution of Dustin Higgs, who was convicted of Jackson’s murder:. Because this is classed as federal land, he was tried by the federal governm… As the women got out of the van, Higgs took out a handgun and handed it to Haynes. Haynes then exited the van and Gloria heard gunshots. [19] According to the defense, both Gloria and Haynes repeatedly changed their stories, with Haynes admitting in 2012 in a sworn affidavit that Higgs had not forced or bullied him into doing anything, something the prosecution had claimed at Higgs' trial. They said the idea that the women willingly got into the van for a lift home also contradicted the idea that Jackson was angry at Higgs and would seek revenge. [15] He was released on February 4, 2006, serving a total of just over five years and two months in prison. 23; and Tanji Jackson, 21. Police found cocaine and firearms in his apartment. The DoJ reported he killed Tamika Black, 19; Tanji Jackson, 21; and Mishann Chinn, 23 in early January that year after he and some friends were hanging out … The women got into the back of the vehicle and Higgs drove out of Laurel. [31][32], At 1:23 a.m. on January 16, 2021, Higgs, 48, was executed by lethal injection of pentobarbital at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. Jackson's day planner was found at the scene with Higgs' nickname and telephone number recorded in it. One said the victims owed him drug money and that Haynes "had to kill" one of the women because she had been trying to set him up. Had the murders occurred farther 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. Higgs maintained his innocence while on death row for kidnapping and murdering three women - 19-year-old Tamika Black, 21-year-old Tanji Jackson, and 23-year-old Mishann Chinn - … On August 24, 2000, Haynes was sentenced to life without parole, plus 45 years. [2] His case, conviction, and execution were the subject of multiple controversies. During the early morning hours of January 27, 1996, Tanji Jackson, Tamika Black, and Mishann Chinn were found murdered in the Patuxent National … [3], The main contention was that Higgs did not personally kill any of the three victims, but waited in a vehicle nearby. Saturday, January 27, 1996, is a day our families will never forget. [4] He is incarcerated at United States Penitentiary, Beaumont. [10] When Dustin was 8, Marilyn was diagnosed with cancer. Ruben Castaneda, a former Washington Post … Dustin John Higgs kidnapped and murdered three women — Tamika Black, 19; Tanji Jackson, 21; and Mishann Chinn, 23. Their bodies were found about 4 a.m. Saturday by a motorist on a Maryland state road 20 miles northeast of Washington, near the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge. [14], The defense argued that Higgs' alleged reason for wanting the women killed — Jackson rejecting his sexual advances and possibly knowing people who may have retaliated against him — was a very weak motive for ordering three murders. [19], Higgs' lawyer said he only learned of the witnesses after reviewing Haynes' trial record, by which time Higgs had already been sentenced to death. [1], In October 1998, Gloria and Haynes were arrested on unrelated drug charges. He became the third and last inmate to be executed by the U.S. federal government in January, after convicted murderers Lisa Marie Montgomery and Corey Johnson, who were executed on January 13 and 14, respectively. Firstly, he was sentenced to death despite not personally shooting or killing any of the three women. He witnessed Haynes shoot one of the women in the chest. Higgs' execution went forward despite his attorney, Shawn Nolan's appeal to … In 2012, Haynes swore in an affidavit that Higgs did not force or threaten him into killing any of the victims. [33], Higgs was the thirteenth and final person executed by the United States federal government during the presidency of Donald Trump. Higgs was convicted in 2000 of the kidnapping and murder of three women — Tamika Black, 19; Tanji Jackson, 21; and Mishann Chinn, 23 — … Dates had been arranged for each of the men and women and the groups had agreed to meet and hang out together. Friends and relatives saw a big change in his mood after this. He is the 13th and final prisoner executed during the Donald Trump administration.. Higgs was accused of ordering his friend Willie Mark Haynes to fatally shoot three women namely Mishann Chinn, Tanji Jackson and Tamika Black, who were 23, 21 and 19, respectively, at the time of their deaths. Higgs pulled over at a secluded location and ordered the women out of the van. Two inmates at the Charles County Detention Center said Haynes had claimed to them to have a much bigger role in the killings. One evening in January 1996, Higgs and two friends drove to Washington, D.C., to pick up Black, Jackson, and Chinn, whom Higgs had invited to his apartment in Laurel, Maryland. Because this is classed as federal land, he was tried by the federal government rather than by the state of Maryland. The gun was then thrown into the Anacostia River. Higgs is on death row for kidnapping and murdering three women – 19-year-old Tamika Black, 21-year-old Tanji Jackson, and 23-year-old Mishann Chinn – in Maryland. [14], Higgs drove his van along a state road on to the Patuxent Research Refuge and stopped the vehicle near the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. [22] He was incarcerated at United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute. [28] Higgs' attorney raised the concern that COVID-19 had caused him lung damage, and that during the execution, he would experience "a sensation of drowning akin to waterboarding". After the argument, the women left the apartment enraged. There is no disputing the horror of the January 1996 murders of Tanji Jackson, Tamika Black and Mishann Chinn. (WTWO/WAWV) — The lives of of Tamika Black, Tanji Jackson, and Mishann Chinn ended violently on a January night in 1996, … 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. The lives of of Tamika Black, Tanji Jackson, and Mishann Chinn ended violently on a January night in 1996, as the three young women were shot and killed along a secluded stretch of highway in Prince George’s County, Maryland. U.S. Park Police declined to say where the women were seen at about 11 p.m. Friday, or by whom. Gloria was sitting in the back of the van behind Higgs. At least 106 people shot, 14 fatally, in Chicago weekend violence, Watch live: Gov. He mentioned each of the three murder victims by name. [14][15], After this revelation, Higgs and Haynes were tried separately in 2000. But the office would not release any information Sunday. [4] The prosecution argued that although Higgs did not kill anyone, he was the ringleader, ordering and bullying Haynes. The man who shot them, Willis Mark Haynes, was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole plus 45 years. Higgs and his defense team maintained his innocence to the end, arguing that although he was involved, he was merely a witness, and was set up by Haynes and another witness, Victor Gloria. At some point, the women — Tamika Black, 19, Tanji Jackson, 21, and Mishann Chinn, 23 — left on foot after an argument. [2] Gloria pleaded guilty to being an accessory-after-the-fact to the killings, and in exchange for testimony against Higgs and Haynes, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Dustin John Higgs is scheduled to die Jan. 15. After being questioned, police learned of more details surrounding the murders. In October 2000, a federal jury in Maryland convicted Higgs of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the killings of Tamika Black, 19; Mishann Chinn. Because this is classed as federal land , he was tried by the federal government rather than by the state of Maryland. According to Haynes' testimony, Higgs then said to him "better make sure they're dead". According to Gloria, Jackson made some kind of threat as she left the apartment. They offered the women a ride home, which they willingly accepted. Dustin John Higgs was an African-American man born in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. He also remains the last person executed by the federal government as a whole. Chinn had been shot once in the back of the head. Dustin John Higgs (March 10, 1972 – January 16, 2021) was an American man who was executed by the United States federal government, having been convicted and sentenced to death in 2000 for his role in the January 1996 murders of three women in Maryland. [21], On October 26, Higgs was sentenced to death, becoming the first person from Maryland to be sentenced to death in the federal court system. The partying continued into the early hours of January 27. [34][35], www.mobilewiki.org Mishann Chinn Mishann Chinn, Fraud investigation and drug trafficking conviction, sentenced to death in the federal court system, Maryland also abolished the death penalty, Zavod za farmacijo in preizkušanje zdravil, Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices, Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Medicines and Medical Devices, Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Medicines and Medical Devices, UMMC Museum of Military and Automotive Equipment, 2020-21 Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey season, 2020-21 Bentley Falcons men's ice hockey season, Javna agencija RS za zdravila in medicinske pripomočke, Chacewater, Kenwyn and Baldhu (electoral division), List of awards and nominations received by American Experience.