The Jan. 29 execution of a Texas woman convicted in the murder of her 71-year-old neighbor has been halted.
A state judge stopped the execution of Kimberly McCarthy,51, who would have been the first woman in the U.S. to be put to death since 2010. State District Judge Larry Mitchell gave McCarthy a reprieve just five hours before she was to die by lethal injection for the 1997 murder of Dorothy Booth.
According to reports, Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Shelly Yeatts said McCarthy's execution date is now on April 3. Her attorneys argue that McCarthy was prosecuted on the basis of race. She is black, but 11 jurors were white, with only one black person.
Had the excecution proceeded on Tuesday, it would have marked the first time in nearly three years that a female prisoner was executed in this country.
(Source:Wire Reports)
