Justice Department is set to execute Navajo prisoner Wednesday

Washington • The Justice Department intends on Wednesday to execute the only Native American man on federal death row, despite urgent pleas from more than a dozen tribes to respect Navajo culture and spare his life.The inmate, Lezmond Mitchell, 38, faces the death penalty for his part in the 2001 murder of a Navajo woman, Alyce Slim, and her 9-year-old granddaughter, Tiffany Lee. Barring any last-minute stays, his execution would be the first time a Native American man has been put to death