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Only Native American on death row to be executed despite tribes objections

‘Lezmond Mitchell’s life is in president Donald Trump’s hands’

This undated family photo provided by Auska Mitchell shows Lezmond Mitchell, who is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, 26 Aug, 2020
This undated family photo provided by Auska Mitchell shows Lezmond Mitchell, who is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, 26 Aug, 2020 (AP)

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The only Native American on federal death row is set to be executed despite attempts from the Navajo tribe to commute his sentence.

Lezmond Mitchell, 38, was convicted in the 2001 killing of nine-year-old Tiffany Lee and her grandmother 63-year-old Alyce Slim alongside an accomplice, Johnny Orsinger.

The men attacked the family after they offered them a lift while hitchhiking on the Navajo Nation. They stabbed Slim 33 times, slit Tiffany’s throat, stoned her to death, and later mutilated both bodies.

Mitchell is scheduled to be put to death on Wednesday, but the Navajo tribal government is asking for last-minute intervention by President Donald Trump requesting clemency to halt the execution on grounds that it would violate Navajo culture and sovereignty.

The Supreme Court declined to step in and halt the execution on Tuesday.

“Today’s decision means we will never know for sure whether anti-Native American bias influenced the jury’s decision to sentence Mitchell to death,” his lawyers, Jonathan Aminoff and Celeste Bacchi, said in a statement in response to the court’s decision.

“Mitchell’s life is in president Trump’s hands, and we hope the president will demonstrate his respect for tribal sovereignty and grant Mitchell the mercy of executive clemency.”

Under federal law, Native American tribes can decide whether their citizens should be subjected to the death penalty for a set of crimes involving Natives on tribal land.

The Navajo Nation, alongside nearly all other 574 federally recognised tribes, have opted against the penalty.

“We can never lose sight of the big picture, be forward-looking,” Navajo Nation lawmaker Carl Slater said. “Every action creates precedent, especially when you’re a governing body. This is not just going to impact the Navajo Nation. It’s going to impact all of Indian Country.”

Tiffany’s father, Daniel Lee told the Associated Press that he believes in the principle of “an eye for an eye”.

“He took my daughter away, and no remorse or anything like that. The Navajo Nation president, the council, they don’t speak for me. I speak for myself and for my daughter,” he said.

Earlier this month, attorneys for some of Slim’s family and Lee wrote to tribal officials saying they support the federal decision, saying Mitchell ”did not consider or have any respect for the Navajo cultural teachings that stress the sanctity of life.”

Other relatives had said they opposed Mitchell’s execution.

Mitchell has continued to insist that Orsinger, his accomplice, led the killings.

Orsinger was a juvenile at the time of conviction and couldn’t be sentenced to death. He is serving a life sentence in Atlanta.

“If the execution were to proceed, Mitchell will be the first, and only, Native American sentenced to death and executed by the federal government in modern history,” his attorneys said.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press

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