At 16:00 local time, the man is scheduled to be executed for the 24-year-old murder of an 8-year-old girl and her parents. But just hours after the first poison injection, a Washington DC judge temporarily managed to postpone the decision, the New York Times reports.

The execution, scheduled at the nation's largest Terre Haute prison in Indiana, would be the first federal in 17 years. Federal executions were previously halted for nearly 40 years, until 2001 when Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed.

The Ministry of Justice has appealed the judge's action.

"We don't want this"

Relatives of the murderer's victims have long appealed to the Justice Department to have his death sentence converted to life imprisonment. They also believe it is not safe for them to attend the execution because of the corona pandemic, and that it should therefore be postponed, according to the AP.

- For us, it's about being there and saying, "This is not done in our name, we do not want this," says Monica Veillette, relative of the murdered.

Many consumed coronas infected

At least 500 inmates in US prisons have died with covid-19 and, according to the family's lawyer, relatives risk being infected if they attend the execution. On Sunday, it was revealed that an employee who was preparing for the execution was tested positive, according to AP.

Despite this, a court on Sunday decided that the execution should be carried out as planned.

The message is called by critics for a dangerous, political game. Among other things, it is believed that the decision risks affecting the debate on criminal justice reforms before the presidential election this autumn.

The executions were postponed

The 47-year-old and four other death sentences were postponed after first planning in December. After a long legal battle, new execution dates have been set for four of them, all convicted of child murders. Two of them are expected to be executed later this week.

"We owe the victims of these horrific crimes, and their relatives, to carry out the punishments issued by our justice system," said Justice Chancellor William Barr.

"Yes, he hurt my life, but I don't think any of that will change by taking his life," said Earlene Peterson, whose daughter, grandson and son-in-law was murdered by the man, in a statement last year.