For the first time in two decades, the federal government is preparing to execute inmates. And an Arizona man is among the first five on the list.

Lezmond Mitchell, 37, a citizen of the Navajo Nation from Round Rock, was convicted in 2003 of murdering Alyce Slim, 63, and her 9-year-old granddaughter Tiffany Lee.

He is being held at the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Institution in Indiana and is scheduled to be executed Dec. 11.

Murder and robbery

Sometime in October 2001, Mitchell and three other men decided to rob a trading post on the Arizona side of the Navajo reservation, according to court records.

Later that month, Mitchell and another man, Johnny Orsinger, traveled from Round Rock, Arizona to Gallup, New Mexico to look for a vehicle to use in the robbery. The two hitchhiked back to the reservation.

Slim and her granddaughter had traveled in her Sierra GMC truck from Fort Defiance, Arizona to Tohatchi, New Mexico to see a traditional medicine person for leg ailments. They next went to Twin Lakes, New Mexico to see another person.

At some point on the trip, Mitchell and Orsinger got into Slim's truck. Slim stopped near Sawmill, Arizona to let the men out, but they stabbed her 33 times. They made the child sit next to her grandmother's body, and Mitchell drove to the mountains before ordering the girl out of the truck.

According to court records, Mitchell cut the child's throat and, when she did not die, Orsinger used rocks to kill her.

A few days later, three men robbed the Red Rock Trading Post. Prosecutors argued Mitchell was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun at the time. A store manager was mopping the floor when she was assaulted by one of the men. Another employee was pushed against the counters when she tried to hide. The employees were tied up in the vault room after the men took $5,530 and a purse.

Issues with the jury?

Attorneys for Mitchell are appealing the death penalty to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Among the reasons, they say, is the court in 2009 didn't let Mitchell's attorneys interview the original jurors, which prevented them from learning whether Mitchell truly got a jury of his peers.

"Mitchell was ultimately tried before a jury with only one Native American member regarding crimes committed on Native American land with Native American victims," his attorneys wrote in the motion.

They argued there were "racial undertones" in the case, and Mitchell should have been allowed to investigate whether racial bias played a role in his conviction and sentence.

"In light of the constitutional rights at stake and the grave sentence faced by Mitchell, the district court should have exercised its discretion in granting Mitchell a limited opportunity to interview his jurors," his attorneys argued in the motion.

In April, the Ninth Circuit allowed the lawyers to proceed with their appeal. They must file their opening brief with the court by Aug. 28.

The death penalty

According to a report by The Arizona Republic, at the time of his sentencing, the Navajo Department of Justice asked that Mitchell not receive the death penalty because capital punishment violates tribal custom and culture.

However, under interstate laws, prosecutors did not have to seek the tribe's permission to seek the death penalty, according to a report by The Associated Press.

It has been more than 16 years since the federal government executed an inmate.

In a statement on Thursday, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department "upholds the rule of law" and owes it to the victims and their families to complete the sentences.

“Congress has expressly authorized the death penalty through legislation adopted by the people’s representatives in both houses of Congress and signed by the President,” Barr stated.

The executions will involve a single drug called pentobarbital, replacing a prior three-drug cocktail. The issue of execution drugs has been controversial in recent years, following executions that went awry in Arizona and elsewhere.

Have thoughts about Arizona’s legal system? Reach criminal justice reporter Lauren Castle at Lauren.Castle@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Lauren_Castle.

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