D.C. judge stays execution of man convicted of killing 10-year-old

Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Thursday issued a stay of execution for a man who was set to die Friday for the murder of a 10-year-old girl in 1999.

District Judge Tanya Chutkan halted plans for the execution of Keith Dwayne Nelson, 45, saying the federal government must, by law, have a prescription for the drug it plans to use for the lethal injection.

The U.S. government uses a single drug for its lethal injections -- pentobarbital, a sedative. Chutkan said using the drug without a prescription is a violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

"The government got caught taking shortcuts and the district court ruled that they cannot make an end-run around the law," Nelson's attorney, Dale Baich, said. "Here, the government made a choice to use compounded drugs and in so doing was taking a risk that it would violate the FDCA."

The U.S. Department of Justice appealed Chutkan's ruling with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Nelson pleaded guilty to the Oct. 12, 1999, kidnapping, rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl whom he abducted while she was rollerblading in front of her home.

His attorneys argue he was denied effective trial counsel and the jury sentenced him to death without hearing of mitigating circumstances, including his "severe organic brain damage," mental illness, and physical and sexual abuse as a child.

If he's executed Friday, Nelson will be the fifth person put to death by the U.S. government this year. Attorney General William Barr resumed federal executions last month after a 17-year hiatus.

The Bureau of Prisons has carried out the executions of Daniel Lewis Lee (July 14), Wesley Purkey (July 16), Dustin Honken (July 17) and Lezmond Mitchell (Wednesday).