Dustin Higgs (1972-2021) *48

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. During the event, 19-year-old Tamika Black, 21-year-old Tanji Jackson, and 23-year-old Mishann Chinn were all shot and killed near the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, on the Patuxent Research Refuge, in Prince George's County, Maryland. Because this is classed as federal land, he was tried by the federal government rather than by the state of Maryland. His case, conviction, and execution were the subject of multiple controversies.

The main contention was that Higgs did not personally kill any of the three victims, but waited in a car nearby. The man who shot them, Willis Mark Haynes, was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole plus 45 years. The prosecution argued that although Higgs did not kill anyone, he was the ringleader, ordering and bullying Haynes. 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. In 2012 Haynes swore in an affidavit that Higgs did not force or threaten him into killing any of the victims.