Inform, Entertain, Inspire
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

UPDATE: 1st US Execution Of Female Inmate In 67 Years Halted

WYANDOTTE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT VIA GETTY IMAGES

NEW (JAN. 12, 2021):

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — A judge has granted a stay in what was slated to be the U.S. government's first execution of a female inmate in more than 67 years. Lisa Montgomery killed 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in December 2004, cut the baby from her womb and then passed off the newborn as her own. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Judge Patrick Hanlon granted the stay late Monday. Her execution was scheduled for Tuesday at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, just eight days before the inauguration of Joe Biden — an opponent of the federal death penalty. Montgomery’s lawyers have argued that sexual abuse during Montgomery’s childhood led to mental illness.

ORIGINAL POST (Jan. 11, 2021):

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — A woman who killed a pregnant woman, cut a baby from her womb and then passed off the newborn as her own is set to die for the crime. Lisa Montgomery would be the first woman executed by the federal government in some six decades if her execution happens as scheduled on Tuesday at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. Montgomery was holding 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett's baby in her arms when she was arrested one day after the December 2004 killing. Montgomery’s lawyers have argued that sexual abuse during Montgomery’s childhood led to mental illness.

Over the weekend, the President of the University of Notre Dame issued the following statement on the upcoming execution of not only Montgomery, but others scheduled to die: 

“Her execution is one of three in my home state of Indiana in the coming week, which will bring to 13 the number of individuals executed by the federal government in the last six months,” Father Jenkins said in his statement. “President Trump, whose administration has expressed a commitment to defend the sanctity of human life, has the power to stop this inhumane, unprecedented and unnecessary spree of executions pursued by his Justice Department in the waning days of his administration. I urge him to do so.”

Related Content