A second federal prisoner has been put to death in the United States this week following a series of post-election executions carried out by the Trump administration.
Alfred Bourgeois, 56, was executed by lethal injection on Friday at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Bourgeois was the 10th federal death-row inmate put to death since executions resumed under President Donald Trump in July after a 17-year hiatus. Three more executions are planned for January before his presidency comes to an end.
The last time the number of civilians federally executed reached double-digits in a single year was in 1896 under President Grover Cleveland, with 14, the Associated Press reports.
The Justice Department gave Bourgeois just 21 days' notice before his execution, under protocols that cut back that notice period from 90 days.
One of his lawyers, Shawn Nolan, said the rush by Trump to execute prisoners on death row deprived Bourgeois the right to exhaust all of his legal options.
"To rush these executions during the pandemic and everything else makes absolutely no sense," he said, according to the Associated Press.
Bourgeois was put to death for severely abusing his two-year-old daughter for weeks in 2002, and then killing her by slamming her head repeatedly against a truck's window and dashboard.
His last words before his execution were reportedly not an apology, but instead, he insisted he didn't kill or sexually abuse his daughter.
"I ask God to forgive all those who plotted and schemed against me, and planted false evidence," he said. "I did not commit this crime."
Nolan said he met with a spiritual advisor earlier on his execution day to come to terms with dying and said he'd been "praying for redemption".
It is the second federal execution this week after Brandon Bernard was put to death on Thursday for his part in killing a religious couple in 1999. Bernard, who was 18 at the time of the killings, was part of a group of teenage gang members who abducted and robbed Todd and Stacie Bagley in Texas.
His death sentence was criticised by celebrities and politicians who had tried to block his execution.
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West fought to have his death penalty sentence commuted, insisting his role in the kidnapping and killings was "minor".
"Brandon Bernard, a 40-year-old father is going to be executed tomorrow by our federal government. Having gotten to know Brandon, I am heartbroken about this execution," she wrote on Twitter.
