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September 30, 2015

Georgia Executes First Woman in 70 Years 
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In Georgia, Kelly Gissendaner was executed early Wednesday morning after
the Supreme Court denied three last-minute requests to stay her
execution. She is the first woman to be executed in the state of Georgia
in 70 years. She was sentenced to death in 1998 for recruiting her
boyfriend to kill her husband, Douglas. Her execution is the first time
since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 that Georgia has executed
someone who did not personally kill the victim. Gissendaner had received
a flurry of support in recent days, including from Pope Francis. Randall
Savage of the local TV station WMAZ described her final moments.

Randall Savage: "She apologized for what she did. She said she was sorry
that that amazing man lost his life because of her. And once after the
execution started, she began singing 'Amazing Grace' and sang it all the
way through."

Kelly Gissendaner was the 21st person executed in the United States so
far this year.

 

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