Kimberly McCarthy is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Jan. 29 according to Reuters who reported it on Jan. 28. She will be the first woman in the United States to be put to death in more than two years. She will be executed in Texas for stabbing her neighbor to death in 1997.
In the United States, women are rarely executed. Since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, only 12 female prisoners have been put to death, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. On September 23, 2010, the last woman to be executed was Teresa Lewis in Virginia.
The executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center said:
“Although women commit about 10 percent of murders, capital cases also require some aggravating factor like rape, robbery, or physical abuse. It’s unclear whether jurors or prosecutors may be more lenient in potential prosecutions of women, since there are relatively few.”
In 1997, McCarthy went to her neighbor's house to supposedly ask for a cup of sugar. However, according to the evidence, she wound up stabbing Dorothy Booth, who was a retired college professor, five times and then beat her with a large candle holder. She then cut off one of Booth's fingers in order to steal her diamond wedding ring.
McCarthy drove Booths' car to Dallas, according to The Associated Press, and pawned the ring for $200. She then went to a crack house to buy cocaine. McCarthy used Booth's credit cards, according to the evidence, at a liquor store and when arrested was carrying the victim's driver's license. If McCarthy is executed on Tuesday, she will be the second person in the United States this year to be executed.
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