Kimberly McCarthy, the first female to face execution in more than two years, is scheduled to face execution by lethal injection on Tuesday, convicted of a gruesome robbery and slaying of her neighbor in 1997. She will be the 13th female to be executed since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. She will also be the second person executed this year. Last year, there were 43 executions.
Evidence showed McCarthy phoned her victim Booth to borrow a cup of sugar, and then attacked her when she went to retrieve it. Booth was stabbed with a butcher knife, beaten with a large candle holder and she then stole diamond wedding ring.
McCarthy was convicted in 1998 and sentenced to death for her 1997 murder of her neighbor, Dorothy Booth. Her conviction was overturned in 2001 because McCarthy did not have an attorney present, and was re-tried in 2002, only to be sentenced again.
Ultimately attorney Wayne Huff sought the Supreme Court to review the case before its execution date. "We're working on seeing if there are other avenues we can take," he said at the time.
The last woman executed in the United States was Teresa Lewis in Virginia on September 23, 2010. Lewis was sentenced to die for concocting a grisly plan to hire two hit men to kill her husband and stepson in October 2002. Lewis stood by while Julian Lewis and son Charles Lewis were shot at close range as they slept.
"Although women commit about 10 percent of murders, capital also require some aggravating factor like rape, robbery or physical abuse," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the information center. "It's unclear whether jurors or prosecutors may be lenient in potential prosecutions of women, since there are relatively few," he added.
