A female convicted murderer made a defiant gesture before she was executed, after being incarcerated for killing a pregnant woman and kidnapping her baby.
Lisa Montgomery had strangled pregnant 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in Missouri in 2004, before cutting her unborn baby out of her womb and kidnapping it.
While Stinnett bled to death from her injuries, the baby was safely recovered and was returned to her family.
Montgomery had confessed to the crime in 2007 and was sentenced to death, being the only female inmate on federal death row in the US at the time of her execution.
She received a lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, on January 13, 2021, after a last-minute stay of execution was lifted by the US Supreme Court.
The 52-year-old was the first female federal inmate to be executed by the US government in 67 years and made a defiant gesture before the lethal injection was administered.
According to witnesses, via BBC, Montgomery's face mask was removed during the execution process and she was asked if she had any last words, to which she simply replied "no" and said nothing else.
Montgomery was pronounced dead at 01:30 AM and her lawyer, Kelley Henry, condemned those that had participated in the execution, stating that they "should feel shame".
Henry added: "The government stopped at nothing in its zeal to kill this damaged and delusional woman. Lisa Montgomery's execution was far from justice."
Montgomery's lawyers had argued that she was mentally ill after suffering serious abuse throughout her childhood, and that she should be spared execution due to the severity of her mental illness.
They claimed she had been born with brain damage and was then sexually and physically abused by her stepfather, and trafficked by her mother, according to reports from her family members.
She had tried to escape her turbulent home life by getting married at the age of 18, but both this marriage and her subsequent second marriage saw her endure yet more abuse.
Both husbands claimed that Montgomery had lied about being pregnant several times, but she did give birth to four children of her own before being sterilized in 1990.
Her defense team claimed that the violent treatment she endured throughout her life was tantamount to being tortured and believe that she was suffering from psychosis and out of touch with reality at the time she committed her crime.
Montogomery's case divided opinion, with many human rights groups agreeing that she should not be put to death.
Stinnett's family had argued that regardless of her mental health, Montgomery should face the death penalty due to the brutality of the crime she had committed.
Montgomery had first befriended Stinnett online, with the pair bonding over their shared love of dogs. Montogomery then drove to Stinnett's house where she overpowered her and strangled her with a piece of rope before cutting the baby out of her stomach.
She was found cradling the newborn baby girl by police and initially claimed she had given birth to her the day before.
After her story was found to be a fabrication, Montgomery confessed to the murder and was found guilty in 2007 and sentenced to death row.
Montgomery's lawyers had fought to stop her execution and her final date was postponed twice, firstly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then by a judge who halted the scheduled injection until a mental competency hearing could be held, before a Supreme Court ruling overturned the stay of execution.
Featured image credit: Norma Jean Gargasz / Alamy
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