There are 51 women currently on Death Row in the United States, with women on Death Row in 17 states, along with one woman awaiting execution for federal crimes. The crimes of female Death Row inmates always include murder, but usually under special circumstances that juries feel merit the ultimate punishment.
Many of the women given the death penalty either killed children, masterminded conspiracies, tortured their victims, or committed a number of crimes at the same time. Most have histories of abuse, dysfunctional families, mental instability, or drug addiction. A number of the women slated for execution conspired with boyfriends or husbands to kill men preventing them from being together, while others killed their families for insurance money. Whatever the circumstances, one of these women were able to use their past histories as mitigating factors to not be sentenced to death.
Here are all 51 women on Death Row in various states in America, and what they did to wind up there.
Women Currently on Death Row in the United States,
Linda Carty
Orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of a woman to steal her newborn son.
Rosie Alfaro
Robbed a home for drug money and stabbed a nine-year-old girl 57 times.
Wendi Andriano
Bludgeoned and poisoned her terminally-ill husband.
Margaret Allen
Tortured and murdered her housekeeper after accusing her of stealing money.
Brenda E. Andrew
Conspired with her boyfriend to murder her husband.
Tina Lasonya Brown
Beat, shocked, and burned a woman to death in a disagreement over a man.
Dora Buenrostro
Stabbed her three children to death after a fight with her ex-husband.
Kimberly Cargill
Murdered her children's babysitter to prevent her from testifying in a custody hearing.
Patricia Blackmon
Murdered her 28-month-old adopted daughter.
Debra Brown
Sentenced to death in two states for participating in seven murders.