American female executions 1900 - 2021.
Historical background.
In total, it is thought that around 372women have been lawfully executed in
Most of these executions were byhanging, (306, including eight juveniles) Click here for the American female hanged, however15 women were burned at the stake under British rule.. The first woman executedunder American jurisdiction, as distinct from British, was BashebaSpooner in the state
The youngest girl to be executed was native American Hannah Ocuishwho publicly hanged in
Four women have been executed underFederal authority. Mary Ann Surratt was hanged with her fellow conspirators at
In 1953 Ethel Rosenburg and Bonnie Heady were put to death. Ethel Rosenburg andher husband, Julius, were electrocuted for espionage on June 19, 1953 andBonnie Brown Heady went to Missouri’s gas chamber on December 18, 1953, alongwith her lover Carl Austin Hall, for the kidnap-murder of 6 year old BobbyGreenlease in Kansas City. On January13, 2021 Lisa Montgomery was executed at the Federal Prison in
Modern times.
17 women have been executed betweenNovember 1984 and January 2021, two by electrocution and fifteen by lethalinjection. Less than 1% of post 1977 executions have been of females (17 out of1530 to January 2021). Click here for a photo ofeach of them.
51 women were on death row as of October 2020, accounting for just 2.0% of thecurrent death row population. See belowfor names and states.
Listing of female executions inchronological order.
Please click herefor a short bio in .pdf format, of each of these women, together with photoswhere available.
Name | Approx | State | Execution date | Method | Race | Crime |
38 | | 07/17/03 | Hanging | Black | Murder of a seven year old girl. | |
Mary Rogers | 23 | | 12/08/05 | Hanging | White | Murder of husband. |
Mary O’Brien Farmer | 29 | | 03/29/09 | Electrocution | White | Ax murder of neighbor. |
Virginia Christian | 17 | | 08/16/12 | Electrocution | Black | Murder of Mrs. Ida Virginia Belote. |
Pattie Perdue | - | | 01/13/22 | Hanging | Black | Murder of white man. |
Ann Knight | - | | 10/13/22 | Hanging | Black | Murder of husband. |
Ruth Snyder | 32 | | 01/12/28 | Electrocution | White | Murder of husband. |
| 38 | | 02/01/29 | Hanging | White | Contract murder of husband. |
Selena Gilmore | - | | 01/24/30 | Electrocution | Black | Shooting murder of waiter. |
Eva Dugan | 51 | | 02/21/30 | Hanging | White | Murder of employer. |
Irene Schroeder | 22 | | 02/23/31 | Electrocution | White | Shooting of policeman. |
Anna Antonio | 28 | | 09/08/34 | Electrocution | White | Contract killing of husband. |
Julia Moore | - | | 02/08/35 | Hanging | Black | Murder of Elliot Wilson. |
May Carey | 55 | | 06/07/35 | Hanging | White | Murder of her brother. |
Eva Coo | 40 | | 06/27/35 | Electrocution | White | Murder of lodger. |
Mary Francis Creighton | 38 | | 07/16/35 | Electrocution | White | Poisoning of landlady. |
Mary Holmes | 35 | | 04/29/37 | Hanging | Black | Robbery murder of her employer. |
Marie Porter | 38 | | 01/28/38 | Electrocution | White | Murder of her brother. |
Anna Marie Hahn | 32 | | 12/07/38 | Electrocution | White | Poisoning for gain. |
Ethel Juanita Spinelli | 52 | | 11/21/41 | Lethal gas (first) | White | Murder of a member of her gang. |
Toni Jo Henry | 26 | | 11/28/42 | Electrocution | White | Shot a man in a vain attempt to free her husband from prison. |
Rosanna Phillips | 26 | | 01/01/43 | Lethal gas | Black | Axe murder of employer. |
Sue Logue | 43 | | 01/15/43 | Electrocution | White | Murder of sheriff. |
Mildred Johnson | 23 | | 05/19/44 | Electrocution | Black | Beat her landlady to death. |
Helen Fowler | 36 | | 11/16/44 | Electrocution | Black | Robbery/murder of customer. |
Bessie Mae Smith (Williams) | 19 | | 29/12/44 | Lethal gas | Black | Murder of a taxi driver. |
| 44 | | 03/05/45 | Electrocution | Black | Shooting her employer. |
Corinne Sykes | 20 | | 10/14/46 | Electrocution | Black | Stabbing her employer |
Rosa Marie Stinette | 49 | | 01/17/47 | Electrocution | Black | Contract killing of husband |
Louise Peete | 64 | | 04/11/47 | Lethal gas | White | Shooting of lady supervising her parole. |
Martha Jule Beck | 30 | | 03/08/51 | Electrocution | White | Drowning a child |
Ethel Rosenberg | 38 | Federal | 06/19/53 | Electrocution | White | Espionage. Executed with her husband, Julius. |
Earle Dennison | 55 | | 09/04/53 | Electrocution | White | Poisoning of niece. |
Bonnie Brown Heady | 41 | Federal ( | 12/18/53 | Lethal gas | White | Kidnap & murder of a 6 year old boy. Executed with her lover, Carl Hall |
Blanch "Dovie" Dean | 54 | | 01/15/54 | Electrocution | White | Poisoned her husband. |
Betty Butler | 26 | | 06/12/54 | Electrocution | Black | Murder of lesbian friend. |
Barbara Graham | 32 | | 06/03/55 | Lethal gas | White | Robbery murder. |
Rhonda Belle Martin | 50 | | 10/11/57 | Electrocution | White | Poisoning husband, plus 5 others. |
Elizabeth Duncan | 58 | | 08/08/62 | Lethal gas | White | Murder of daughter in law. |
Velma Barfield | 52 | | 11/02/84 | Lethal Injection | White | Poisoning of husband(s). |
Karla Faye Tucker | 37 | | 02/03/98 | Lethal Injection | White | Pick ax murders. |
Judias Buenoano | 54 | | 03/30/98 | Electrocution | White | Husband murders. |
Betty Lou Beets | 62 | | 02/24/00 | Lethal Injection | White | Husband murders. |
Christina Riggs | 28 | | 05/03/00 | Lethal Injection | White | Murder of her two children. |
Wanda Jean Allen | 41 | | 01/11/01 | Lethal Injection | Black | Murder of her lesbian lover. |
Marilyn Kay Plantz | 40 | | 05/01/01 | Lethal Injection | White | Contract killing of her husband. |
Lois Nadean Smith | 61 | | 12/04/01 | Lethal Injection | White | Murder of son's former girlfriend. |
Lynda Lyon Block | 54 | | 05/10/02 | Electrocution | White | Murder of police officer. |
Aileen Wournoss | 46 | | 10/09/02 | Lethal Injection | White | Serial killer of seven men. |
Frances Newton | 40 | | 09/14/05 | Lethal Injection | Black | Murder of her husband & 2 children. |
Teresa Lewis | 41 | | 09/23/10 | Lethal Injection | White | Contract killing of her husband & stepson. |
Kimberly McCarthy | 52 | | 06/26/13 | Lethal Injection | Black | Robbery murder of elderly neighbor. |
Suzanne Basso | 59 | | 02/05/14 | Lethal Injection | White | Torture murder of her “boyfriend” for gain. |
Lisa Ann Coleman | 38 | | 09/17/14 | Lethal Injection | Black | Murder of her girlfriend’s son |
Kelly Renee Gissendaner | 47 | | 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 | |
Gobble, Tierra Capri | white | |
Johnson, Shonda Nicole | white | |
Scott, Christie Michelle | white | |
Graham, Lisa | white | |
Keaton, Heather | black | |
Andriano, Wendi | white | |
Forde, Shawna | white | |
Allen, Samantha | white | |
Coffman, Cynthia | white | |
McDermott, Maureen | white | |
Alfaro, Maria | | |
Thompson, Catherine | black | |
Carrington, Celeste | black | |
Samuels, Mary E. | white | |
| white | |
Buenrostro, Dora | | |
Gonzalez, Veronica | | |
Eubanks, Susan | white | |
Nieves, Sandi | white | |
Caro, Socorro | | |
Michaud, Michelle | white | |
Rodriguez, Angelina | | |
Snyder, Janeen Marie | white | |
Sarinana, Cathy Lynn | white | |
Martin, Valerie Dee | white | |
Nelson, Tanya Jaime | Asian | |
Rottiers, Brooke Marie | white | |
Williams, Manling Tsang | Asian | |
Cole, Tiffany Ann | white | |
Allen, Margaret | black | |
Brown, Tina Lasonya | black | |
Row, Robin Lee | white | |
Tiffany Moss | black | |
Brown, Debra | black | |
| white | |
Frank, Antoinette | black | |
Chamberlain, Lisa Jo | white | |
Moore, Blanche | white | |
Parker, Carlette | black | |
Roberts, Donna | white | |
Andrew, Brenda | white | |
McAnulty, Angela D. | white | |
Tharpe, Michelle Sue | White | Pennsylvania |
Pike, Christa Gail | white | |
Sheppard, Erica | black | |
Routier, Darlie | white | |
| white | |
Carty, Linda | black | |
Lucio, Melissa Elizabeth | | |
Cargill, Kimberly | white | |
Parker, Taylor | white | |
Given the governorof 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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