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.
Rosie Alfaro
Robbed a home for drug money and stabbed a nine-year-old girl 57 times.
Margaret Allen
Tortured and murdered her housekeeper after accusing her of stealing money.
Brenda E. Andrew
Conspired with her boyfriend to murder her husband.
Wendi Andriano
Bludgeoned and poisoned her terminally-ill husband.
Patricia Blackmon
Murdered her 28-month-old adopted daughter.
Debra Brown
Sentenced to death in two states for participating in seven murders.
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.
Linda Carty
Orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of a woman to steal her newborn son.
Ana Maria Cardona
Beat her three-year-old son to death with a bat and dumped his body.
Socorro Caro
Shot and killed three of her four children in a violent rage.
Virginia Susan Caudill
Strangled and burned an elderly woman during a robbery.
Emilia Carr
Helped murder her boyfriend’s estranged wife.
Celeste Carrington
Shot and killed men in two separate robberies.
Lisa Jo Chamberlin
Killed a Mississippi couple and stuffed their bodies in a freezer.
Cynthia Coffman
Conspired with her boyfriend to murder four women in 1986.
Tiffany Cole
Conspired to rob a Florida couple, who she then helped bury alive.
Kerry Lyn Dalton
Along with three others, tortured and murdered a woman in a trailer park for thrills.
Susan Eubanks
Shot and killed her four children after a drug-fueled fight with her boyfriend.
Shawna Forde
Planned and took part in a home invasion that killed a man and his young daughter.
Antoinette Frank
Former New Orleans police officer who participated in a triple murder during a robbery.
Tierra Capri Gobble
Killed her four-month-old son through extensive abuse.
Veronica Gonzales
Along with her husband, tortured and murdered her young niece in a thrill killing.
Brittany Holberg
Robbed, beat, and stabbed an elderly man 60 times.
Brandy Holmes
Stabbed and shot a retired minister while robbing his house for jewellery.
Shonda Johnson
Bigamist who murdered one of her husbands.
Melissa Elizabeth Lucio
Beat and murdered her two-year-old daughter.
Belinda Magana
Conspired with her boyfriend to scald, beat, and murder her two-year-old son.
Valerie Dee Martin
Enlisted her son to kidnap, trap, and burn her boyfriend alive in a car.
Angela Darlene McAnulty
Tortured, beat, and starved her teenage daughter.
Maureen McDermott
Hired a man to murder and mutilate her roommate to cash in an insurance policy.