American Female Executions 1900-2021

Historical Background

In total, it is thought that around 372 women have been lawfully executed in America since 1632. This constitutes about 2.4% of the 15,500 or so total executions. See a full list of pre-Furman executions compiled from the Watt Espy files.

Table of Contents

Most of these executions were by hanging (306, including eight juveniles). However, 15 women were burned at the stake under British rule. See American Female Hangings 1632-1937.

The first woman executed under American jurisdiction, as distinct from British, was Basheba Spooner in the state of Massachusetts in 1778. She was accused of killing a Sergeant in the Royal Army who she said stole her virtue. She pleaded that she was pregnant, but the plea was rejected, and she was hanged. An autopsy showed that she was indeed pregnant.

The youngest girl to be executed was Native American Hannah Ocuish, who was publicly hanged in Connecticut on December 20, 1786, for the murder of another child. She was just 12 years and 9 months old.

Federal Executions of Women

Four women have been executed under Federal authority:

Mary Ann Surratt was hanged with her fellow conspirators at Fort McNair on July 7, 1865, for their parts in the assassination of President Lincoln.
In 1953, Ethel Rosenberg and Bonnie Heady were put to death. Ethel Rosenberg and her husband, Julius, were electrocuted for espionage on June 19, 1953. Bonnie Brown Heady went to Missouri’s gas chamber on December 18, 1953, along with her lover Carl Austin Hall, for the kidnap-murder of 6-year-old Bobby Greenlease in Kansas City.
On January 13, 2021, Lisa Montgomery was executed at the Federal Prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for the murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett to steal her unborn baby.

First Female Executions by Method

Martha Place became the first of 27 women (including one juvenile) to die in the electric chair when she was executed on March 20, 1899, at New York’s Auburn prison for the murder of her stepdaughter, Ida.
Ethel Juanita Spinelli was the first of seven women to die by lethal gas in California on November 21, 1941.
Velma Barfield was the first woman to die by lethal injection, in 1984.

Modern Times

Seventeen women have been executed between November 1984 and January 2021—two by electrocution and fifteen by lethal injection.

Less than 1% of post-1977 executions have been of females (17 out of 1,530 to January 2021). As of October 2020, 51 women were on death row, accounting for just 2.0% of the current death row population. (See below for names and states.)

Listing of Female Executions in Chronological Order

Female Executions (1900–2021)

See the bios of each of these woman at Women Executed in the United States (1900–2021) – Biographies.

Name	Approximate Age	State	Execution date mm/dd/yy	Method	Race	Crime
Dora Wright	38	Oklahoma	07/17/03	Hanging	Black	Murder of a seven year old girl.
Mary Rogers	23	Vermont	12/08/05	Hanging	White	Murder of husband.
Mary O’Brien Farmer	29	New York	03/29/09	Electrocution	White	Ax murder of neighbor.
Virginia Christian	17	Virginia	08/16/12	Electrocution	Black	Murder of Mrs. Ida Virginia Belote.
Pattie Perdue	–	Mississippi	01/13/22	Hanging	Black	Murder of white man.
Ann Knight	–	Mississippi	10/13/22	Hanging	Black	Murder of husband.
Ruth Snyder	32	New York	01/12/28	Electrocution	White	Murder of husband.
Ada LeBoeuf	38	Louisiana	02/01/29	Hanging	White	Contract murder of husband.
Selena Gilmore	–	Alabama	01/24/30	Electrocution	Black	Shooting murder of waiter.
Eva Dugan	51	Arizona	02/21/30	Hanging	White	Murder of employer.
Irene Schroeder	22	Pennsylvania	02/23/31	Electrocution	White	Shooting of policeman.
Anna Antonio	28	New York	09/08/34	Electrocution	White	Contract killing of husband.
Julia Moore	–	Louisiana	02/08/35	Hanging	Black	Murder of Elliot Wilson.
May Carey	55	Delaware	06/07/35	Hanging	White	Murder of her brother.
Eva Coo	40	New York	06/27/35	Electrocution	White	Murder of lodger.
Mary Francis Creighton	38	New York	07/16/35	Electrocution	White	Poisoning of landlady.
Mary Holmes	35	Mississippi	04/29/37	Hanging	Black	Robbery murder of her employer.
Marie Porter	38	Illinois	01/28/38	Electrocution	White	Murder of her brother.
Anna Marie Hahn	32	Ohio	12/07/38	Electrocution	White	Poisoning for gain.
Ethel Juanita Spinelli	52	California	11/21/41	Lethal gas (first)	White	Murder of a member of her gang.
Toni Jo Henry	26	Louisiana	11/28/42	Electrocution	White	Shot a man in a vain attempt to free her husband from prison.
Rosanna Phillips	26	N. Carolina	01/01/43	Lethal gas	Black	Axe murder of employer.
Sue Logue	43	S. Carolina	01/15/43	Electrocution	White	Murder of sheriff.
Mildred Johnson	23	Mississippi	05/19/44	Electrocution	Black	Beat her landlady to death.
Helen Fowler	36	New York	11/16/44	Electrocution	Black	Robbery/murder of customer.
Bessie Mae Smith (Williams)	19	N. Carolina	29/12/44	Lethal gas	Black	Murder of a taxi driver.
Lena Baker	44	Georgia	03/05/45	Electrocution	Black	Shooting her employer. Pardoned in 2005
Corinne Sykes	20	Pennsylvania	10/14/46	Electrocution	Black	Stabbing her employer
Rosa Marie Stinette	49	S. Carolina	01/17/47	Electrocution	Black	Contract killing of husband
Louise Peete	64	California	04/11/47	Lethal gas	White	Shooting of lady supervising her parole.
Martha Jule Beck	30	New York	03/08/51	Electrocution	White	Drowning a child
Ethel Rosenberg	38	Federal (New York)	06/19/53	Electrocution	White	Espionage. Executed with her husband, Julius.
Earle Dennison	55	Alabama	09/04/53	Electrocution	White	Poisoning of niece.
Bonnie Brown Heady	41	Federal (Missouri)	12/18/53	Lethal gas	White	Kidnap & murder of a 6 year old boy. Executed with her lover, Carl Hall
Blanch “Dovie” Dean	54	Ohio	01/15/54	Electrocution	White	Poisoned her husband.
Betty Butler	26	Ohio	06/12/54	Electrocution	Black	Murder of lesbian friend.
Barbara Graham	32	California	06/03/55	Lethal gas	White	Robbery murder.
Rhonda Belle Martin	50	Alabama	10/11/57	Electrocution	White	Poisoning husband, plus 5 others.
Elizabeth Duncan	58	California	08/08/62	Lethal gas	White	Murder of daughter in law.
Velma Barfield	52	N. Carolina	11/02/84	Lethal Injection	White	Poisoning of husband(s).
Karla Faye Tucker	37	Texas	02/03/98	Lethal Injection	White	Pick ax murders.
Judias Buenoano	54	Florida	03/30/98	Electrocution	White	Husband murders.
Betty Lou Beets	62	Texas	02/24/00	Lethal Injection	White	Husband murders.
Christina Riggs	28	Arkansas	05/03/00	Lethal Injection	White	Murder of her two children.
Wanda Jean Allen	41	Oklahoma	01/11/01	Lethal Injection	Black	Murder of her lesbian lover.
Marilyn Kay Plantz	40	Oklahoma	05/01/01	Lethal Injection	White	Contract killing of her husband.
Lois Nadean Smith	61	Oklahoma	12/04/01	Lethal Injection	White	Murder of son’s former girlfriend.
Lynda Lyon Block	54	Alabama	05/10/02	Electrocution	White	Murder of police officer.
Aileen Wournoss	46	Florida	10/09/02	Lethal Injection	White	Serial killer of seven men.
Frances Newton	40	Texas	09/14/05	Lethal Injection	Black	Murder of her husband & 2 children.
Teresa Lewis	41	Virginia	09/23/10	Lethal Injection	White	Contract killing of her husband & stepson.
Kimberly McCarthy	52	Texas	06/26/13	Lethal Injection	Black	Robbery murder of elderly neighbor.
Suzanne Basso	59	Texas	02/05/14	Lethal Injection	White	Torture murder of her “boyfriend” for gain.
Lisa Ann Coleman	38	Texas	09/17/14	Lethal Injection	Black	Murder of her girlfriend’s son
Kelly Renee Gissendaner	47	Georgia	09/30/15	Lethal Injection	White	Contract killing of her husband.
Lisa Marie Montgomery	52	Federal	01/13/21	Lethal Injection	White	Murder of pregnant woman to steal baby

Women on Death Row by State (as of November 2022)

Name	Race	State
Blackmon, Patricia	black	Alabama
Gobble, Tierra Capri	white	Alabama
Johnson, Shonda Nicole	white	Alabama
Scott, Christie Michelle	white	Alabama
Graham, Lisa	white	Alabama
Keaton, Heather	black	Alabama
Andriano, Wendi	white	Arizona
Forde, Shawna	white	Arizona
Allen, Samantha	white	Arizona
Coffman, Cynthia	white	California
McDermott, Maureen	white	California
Alfaro, Maria	Latina	California
Thompson, Catherine	black	California
Carrington, Celeste	black	California
Samuels, Mary E.	white	California
Dalton, Kerry Lyn	white	California
Buenrostro, Dora	Latina	California
Gonzalez, Veronica	Latina	California
Eubanks, Susan	white	California
Nieves, Sandi	white	California
Caro, Socorro	Latina	California
Michaud, Michelle	white	California
Rodriguez, Angelina	Latina	California
Snyder, Janeen Marie	white	California
Sarinana, Cathy Lynn	white	California
Martin, Valerie Dee	white	California
Nelson, Tanya Jaime	Asian	California
Rottiers, Brooke Marie	white	California
Williams, Manling Tsang	Asian	California
Cole, Tiffany Ann	white	Florida
Allen, Margaret	black	Florida
Brown, Tina Lasonya	black	Florida
Row, Robin Lee	white	Idaho
Tiffany Moss	black	Georgia
Brown, Debra	black	Indiana
Caudill, Virginia	white	Kentucky
Frank, Antoinette	black	Louisiana
Chamberlain, Lisa Jo	white	Mississippi
Moore, Blanche	white	North Carolina
Parker, Carlette	black	North Carolina
Roberts, Donna	white	Ohio
Andrew, Brenda	white	Oklahoma
McAnulty, Angela D.	white	Oregon
Tharpe, Michelle Sue	White	Pennsylvania
Pike, Christa Gail	white	Tennessee
Sheppard, Erica	black	Texas
Routier, Darlie	white	Texas
Holberg, Brittany Marlowe	white	Texas
Carty, Linda	black	Texas
Lucio, Melissa Elizabeth	Latina	Texas
Cargill, Kimberly	white	Texas
Parker, Taylor	white	Texas

Final Notes

Given the governor of California’s position on the death penalty, it is most unlikely that any inmate—male or female—will be executed there.

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