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6A Weekend Edition - July 18-19, 2020 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LOCA^NATION Iowa meth kingpin 3rd executed by federal government this week TIM HYNDS I Associated Press Dustin Honken is led by federal marshals to a waiting car after the second day of jury selection in federal court, Aug. 18, 2004, in Sioux City, Iowa. A federal judge denied the Iowa drug kingpin’s requests to delay his execution, which was carried out Friday, July 17. U.S. District Judge Leonard Strand wrote Tuesday, July 14 that he would not intervene to delay Honken’s execution date due to the coronavirus pandemic LATINO ■ Continued from 1A have some money saved but were thankful for a recent food drop-off facilitated by Hispanic Alliance GA. “I don’t know what we would have done,” she said. Vanesa Sarazua, execu tive director of Hispanic Alliance GA, discussed another man who had been in the hospital for months. “He unfortunately has fallen behind on his rent, has fallen behind on his utilities, has lost his car, so we see those conse quences of being sick and afflicted with this illness and how it has a long-term effect really on families and on poverty,” she said. “It really sets them back. Even if after they’re able to recover, it’ll take a while for them to be able to go back to work and have a normal life.” Sarazua said they served 550 families in a food drive-thru Saturday, July 11. They have also served anywhere from 30 to 75 families a week with food boxes being dropped off to families either sick, quarantining or without transportation. “Now, pretty much it’s more a reality for a lot of people where they know someone who has been sick, either in their family or at work or their friends. It’s a more of a reality, and they see the seriousness of it a little bit more in our community,” Sarazua said. A question-and-answer session with Dr. Antonio Rios had roughly 3,000 views on Facebook Live, the third installment of conversations with health officials for the community. Rios, chief physician executive for Northeast Georgia Physicians Group, said the questions have been: When will the vac cine be available? What does the antibody test mean? Are masks helpful? “What we’re telling peo ple is don’t get your hopes too high on the antibody test, because it may mean you had it, but it may not be an insurance for you to just ignore all of our mea sures. We’re still trying to message heavily to social distance, to wear masks, to wash hands, to avoid going to gatherings and things like that,” Rios said. Northeast Georgia Health System provided data in April showing 49% of COVID-19 cases from Hall County are Latino. In April, 30% of cases were identified as Latino across the entire NGHS service area. Those numbers have not moved in three months. Data provided Tuesday, July 14, had 49% of Hall County’s cases being Latino and 31% across the entire NGHS service area. According to 2019 cen sus estimates, 29% of Hall County is considered Latino. Rios said he felt that the testing facilities have been “saturated” to the point where there is a delayed turnover in getting results. “It’s still here. It’s not going away. You need to be really careful,” Rios said. In terms of recent trends, Rios said there has been an increase in those 18-40 who have been hospitalized. The Times previously reported on how the poul try industry was tackling the best ways to prevent spread of the virus through various safety measures “What we’ve seen is that the poultry industry is no longer a common denominator, and there hasn’t been a single indus try right now that really is highlighted as to where patients are working,” Rios said. Between Thursday, July 16, and Friday, July 17, the number of patients in the intensive care unit jumped from 16 to 31. The num ber of confirmed COVID- 19 positive patients being treated also rose from 88 Thursday to 106 on Friday. The hospital has not had more than 100 confirmed patients being treated since May 14, according to its online data. With the opening of schools around the cor ner, Sarazua said she feels there will be a need for masks, hand sanitizer and other supplies. BY MICHAEL TARM Associated Press TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The U.S. government on Friday put to death an Iowa chemistry student- turned-meth kingpin convicted of killing five people, capping a week in which the Trump admin istration restored federal executions after a 17-year hiatus. Dustin Honken, 52, who prosecutors said killed key witnesses to stop them from testifying in his drugs case, received a lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. Two others were also put to death during the week after a hiatus of nearly 20 years, including Wesley Purkey. His lawyers con tended he had dementia and didn’t know why he was being executed. The first in the spate fed eral executions happened Tuesday, when Daniel Lewis Lee was put to death for killing a family in the 1990s as part of a plot to build a whites-only nation. Lee’s execution, like Pur- key’s, went ahead only after the U.S. Supreme Court gave it a green light in a 5-4 decision hours before. Honken, who had been on death row since 2005, was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m. The inmate — known for his verbosity at hearings and for a ram bling statement declaring his innocence at sentenc ing — spoke only briefly, neither addressing vic tims’ family members nor saying he was sorry. His last words were, “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for me.” A Catholic priest, Honk en’s spiritual adviser, stood near him inside the death chamber. Honken spoke on his back, strapped to a gurney under a pale- green sheet. He didn’t look toward witnesses behind a glass barrier, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the ceiling. Honken’s lawyer, Shawn Nolan, said his client was “redeemed” and had repented for his crimes. “There was no reason for the government to kill him, in haste or at all,” Nolan said. “The man they killed today ... could have spent the rest of his days helping others and further redeeming himself.” In a statement, Justice Department spokesper son Kerri Rupee said “just punishment has been car ried out.” “Nearly three decades after Honken coldly ended the lives of five people ... all in an effort to protect himself and his criminal enterprise, he has finally faced justice,” Rupee said. After officials began administering the lethal injection, Honken began blinking his eyes, his fin gers twitching and his lips quivering. After several minutes his breathing became more labored. He turned increasingly ashen as blood drained from his face and hands. His fingers gradually stopped twitch ing, and his breathing became shallower until it stopped. Honken was pronounced dead after 30 minutes — longer than the other two executions. An official with a stethoscope walked into the small death chamber, put his fingers on Honken’s neck to check for a pulse, listened for a heartbeat, then exited. Seconds later, officials announced the time of death. Honken, whose crimes struck at the foundation of the U.S. justice system, always seemed the least likely to win a reprieve from the courts. After the two previous executions were repeatedly delayed amid back-and-forth legal maneuvering, Honken’s began almost on the min ute it had been scheduled for weeks. While out on bond in his drugs case in July 1993, Honken and his girlfriend Angela Johnson kid napped Lori Duncan and her two daughters from their Mason City, Iowa, home, then killed and buried them in a wooded area nearby. Ten-year- old Kandi and 6-year-old Amber were still in their swimsuits on the hot sum mer day when they were shot execution-style in the back of the head. Their primary target that day was Lori Duncan’s then-boyfriend, Greg Nich olson, who also lived at the home and was also killed. He and Lori Duncan were bound and gagged and shot multiple times. Honken had recently learned Nicholson, a former drug dealing associate, was cooperating with investi gators and would likely testify against Honken at trial. Lori Duncan didn’t know Nicholson was an informant and she wasn’t involved in drugs. As the investigation into Honken continued, he killed another drug dealer working with him, Terry DeGeus, beating him with a bat and shooting him. THANK YOU! Thank you to our readers and business partners who have generously donated to help sustain our editorial mission. Many of you have sent kind words of encouragement along with your donation. Your thoughtfulness has uplifted the spirits of our team. Thank you also to those in our community supporting independent local journalism by purchasing a subscription or advertising with us. 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