Since 1976, when the Supreme Court of the United States lifted the moratorium on capital punishment in Gregg v. Georgia , 19 women have been executed in the United States. [1] Women represent less than 1.15 percent of the 1,561 executions performed in the United States since 1976. [2]
No. | Date of execution | Name | Race | Age at execution | Age at offense | State | Method | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | November 2, 1984 | Margie Velma Barfield | White | 52 | 45 | North Carolina | Lethal injection | [3] |
2 | February 3, 1998 | Karla Faye Tucker | 38 | 23 | Texas | [4] | ||
3 | March 30, 1998 | Judias "Judy" V. Buenoano | 54 | 28 | Florida | Electrocution | [5] | |
4 | February 24, 2000 | Betty Lou Beets | 62 | 46 | Texas | Lethal injection | [6] | |
5 | May 2, 2000 | Christina Marie Riggs | 28 | 26 | Arkansas | [7] | ||
6 | January 11, 2001 | Wanda Jean Allen | Black | 41 | 29 | Oklahoma | [8] | |
7 | May 1, 2001 | Marilyn Kay Plantz | White | 40 | 27 | [9] | ||
8 | December 4, 2001 | Lois Nadean Smith | 61 | 41 | [10] | |||
9 | May 10, 2002 | Lynda Lyon Block | 54 | 45 | Alabama | Electrocution | [11] | |
10 | October 9, 2002 | Aileen Carol Wuornos | 46 | 33–34 | Florida | Lethal injection | [12] | |
11 | September 14, 2005 | Frances Elaine Newton | Black | 40 | 21 | Texas | [13] | |
12 | September 23, 2010 | Teresa Wilson Bean Lewis | White | 41 | 33 | Virginia | [14] | |
13 | January 18, 2012 | Manling Tsang Williams | Asian | 33 | 28 | California | Lethal injection | [15] |
14 | June 26, 2013 | Kimberly LaGayle McCarthy | Black | 52 | 36 | Texas | [16] | |
15 | February 5, 2014 | Suzanne Margaret Basso | White | 59 | 44 | [17] | ||
16 | September 17, 2014 | Lisa Ann Coleman | Black | 38 | 28 | [18] | ||
17 | September 30, 2015 | Kelly Renee Gissendaner | White | 47 | Georgia | [19] | ||
18 | January 13, 2021 | Lisa Marie Montgomery | 52 | 36 | Federal government | [20] | ||
19 | January 3, 2023 | Amber McLaughlin [lower-alpha 1] | 49 | 30 | Missouri | [25] |
In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 20 states currently have the ability to execute death sentences, with the other seven, as well as the federal government, being subject to different types of moratoriums.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
Karla Faye Tucker was an American woman sentenced to death for killing two people with a pickaxe during a burglary. She was the first woman to be executed in the United States since Velma Barfield in 1984 in North Carolina, and the first in Texas since Chipita Rodriguez in 1863. She was convicted of murder in Texas in 1984 and executed by lethal injection after 14 years on death row. Due to her gender and widely publicized conversion to Christianity, she inspired an unusually large national and international movement that advocated the commutation of her sentence to life without parole, a movement that included a few foreign government officials.
A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be.
Margie Velma Barfield was an American serial killer who was convicted of one murder but eventually confessed to six murders in total. Barfield was the first woman in the United States to be executed after the 1976 resumption of capital punishment and the first since 1962. She was also the first woman to be executed by lethal injection.
John B. Nixon Sr. was an American convicted murderer. He was convicted of the January 22, 1985 murder-for-hire of Virginia Tucker in Rankin County, Mississippi. Born in Midnight in Humphreys County, Mississippi, he was executed in 2005 by the State of Mississippi.
Capital punishment for juveniles in the United States existed until March 2, 2005, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in Roper v. Simmons. Prior to Roper, there were 71 people on death row in the United States for crimes committed as juveniles.
Capital punishment in Missouri first used in 1810 is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Missouri.
Amber McLaughlin was an American transgender woman executed in Missouri for the 2003 rape and murder of her ex-girlfriend, Beverly Guenther. At the time of the crime, McLaughlin was living as male; she transitioned from male to female while incarcerated. McLaughlin became the first openly transgender person to be executed in the United States. Her legal name remained her birth name, Scott A. McLaughlin, and she was identified as such in her death warrant and in prison records.