Federal government executes first woman in 67 years

A Kansas woman was executed early Wednesday, making her the first woman that the federal government has put to death in nearly 70 years. 

Lisa Montgomery, 52, was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at a federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

She is the 11th prisoner to receive a lethal injection at the site since the Trump administration reinstated federal executions in July after a 17-year pause.

When asked before the execution, Montgomery said that she did not have any last words, according to multiple reports.

An appeals court earlier this week granted Montgomery a stay of execution. A separate appeals court this week also lifted a ruling that found her mentally ill and could not understand that she would be put to death.  

However, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Tuesday to allow the execution to proceed.

Montgomery was convicted in 2007 of the 2004 murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, in Missouri. She strangled the woman, who was eight months pregnant at the time, and removed the child from Stinnett’s body with a knife.

Montgomery’s attorney, Kelley Henry, said in a statement following the execution that “the craven bloodlust of a failed administration was on full display tonight,” according to multiple reports.

“Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame,” she continued, adding that Montgomery’s death “was far from Justice.” 

Her attorneys have said that she suffered from mental illness that ran in her family and that she suffered “sexual torture” as a child.

The government has acknowledged Montgomery’s mental illness but argued that she could comprehend that she was scheduled for execution, The Associated Press reported.