TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A man convicted of beating his two and a half-year-old daughter over a spilled potty chair has been executed.
News 10's Sarah Lehman reports Alfred Bourgeois was executed at 8:21 pm at the federal prison in Terre Haute
He gave a minutes long final statement. Claiming his innocence, asking forgiveness for those who plotted against him, and praying to the Lord. @WTHITV
— Sarah Lehman (@WTHISarahLehman) December 12, 2020
Bourgeois marks the 10th federal execution of the year, and the second of the week.
He was sentenced to death in 2004.
He was convicted of abusing, torturing, and beating his two and a half-year-old daughter to death for tipping over a training potty.
Press is going through their briefing right now. We have learned no family will speak after the execution, but they will provide a written statement. @WTHITV
— Sarah Lehman (@WTHISarahLehman) December 11, 2020
Here's a breakdown of what Alfred Bourgeois was convicted of, according to the Department of Justice.
"Alfred Bourgeois abused, tortured, and beat to death his young daughter. After a paternity test identified Bourgeois as the father of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl and a court-ordered that he pay child support to the mother, Bourgeois took temporary custody of his daughter and brought her with him on a trucking route.
While on the trip, Bourgeois systematically abused and tortured her — including by punching her in the face, whipping her with an electrical cord, and burning the bottom of her foot with a cigarette lighter. In July 2002, Bourgeois arrived at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station for a delivery. While backing his truck up to a loading dock, his daughter tipped over her training potty.
Bourgeois became enraged and repeatedly slammed the back of her head into the truck’s window and dashboard, killing her. On March 16, 2004, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas found Bourgeois guilty of murder within the special territorial jurisdiction of the United States, and unanimously recommended a death sentence, which the court imposed.
His conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal, and his requests for collateral relief were ultimately rejected by federal courts. In July 2019, his execution was scheduled for Jan. 13, 2020, but legal impediments prevented the government from proceeding at that time. Bourgeois is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Dec. 11, 2020, at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana."
