Lisa Montgomery, the only female on federal death row, was killed early Wednesday morning by lethal injection after the Supreme Court upheld the execution.
BREAKING: The U.S. government has carried out its first execution of a female inmate in 67 years. Lisa Montgomery, a Kansas woman, was put to death by lethal injection for strangling an expectant mother in Missouri and cutting the baby from her womb. https://t.co/IZeX2lakw4
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 13, 2021
According to a tweet by reporter Steven Mazie, the Supreme Court upheld Montgomery’s execution by a 6-3 vote on Tuesday night. The news comes a day after Judge Patrick Hanlon of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Indiana halted the execution, and said that an evidentiary hearing is needed to decide if Montgomery is mentally competent to face execution.
BREAKING: by a 6-3 vote, Supreme Court lets execution of first female federal inmate to proceed in 67 years. Lisa Montgomery will be put to death tonight. pic.twitter.com/1OU9rNuFi8
— Steven Mazie (@stevenmazie) January 13, 2021
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Montgomery was sentenced to die for the 2004 murder of pregnant 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett, whose baby Montgomery cut out of her with a carving knife, at Stinnett’s home in Skidmore, Missouri.
Montgomery, who was faking her own pregnancy, met Stinnett online while feigning interest in purchasing a dog. The two women arranged to meet on December 16, 2004, at Stinnett’s home in regards to buying a rat terrier.
Investigators believe that once Montgomery was inside the home, she cut Stinnett’s baby from her womb and strangled Stinnett with a rope.
Prosecutors previously stressed that they believe that Stinnett was conscious and fighting to defend herself while Montgomery used a kitchen knife to cut the baby out of Stinnett’s stomach, according to a report by the Daily Mail.
Stinnett’s own mother found her bleeding in her living room hours after the attack and contacted 911.
“She is laying on the floor with blood everywhere,” mother Becky Harper told a 911 dispatcher. “She was pregnant. … It’s like her guts have exploded or something.”
The baby, a girl, survived but Montgomery tried to pretend she was hers.
Police arrested Montgomery the following day at her home in Melvern, Kansas. They found Stinnett’s baby inside Montgomery’s home, with Montgomery holding the baby in her arms while watching the news about the missing baby flash across a television screen.
The baby, now a 16-year-old old, was returned to her father.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Montgomery devised a story of how she had gone into labor while on a shopping trip, even though she had undergone tubal ligation in 1990.
Nodaway County Sheriff Randy Strong, who worked the case since the beginning, said that the brutal murder and kidnapping had been “meticulously planned,” News-Press Now reports.
Montgomery’s lawyers, however, say that previous childhood sexual abuse and trauma are partly to blame for the incident.
According to ACLU, Montgomery’s issues started at birth, when she was born with permanent brain damage due to her mother’s excessive alcohol drinking during pregnancy.
The ACLU argued that Montgomery was tortured and abused as a child. She was often made to take cold showers and beaten with numerous items. Her mother allegedly taped her mouth shut so Montgomery couldn’t talk.
Montgomery was later raped, according to ACLU, and warned not to say anything unless she wanted it to happen to her younger sister. At age 15, Montgomery was forced into sex trafficking by her mother.
Montgomery began mentally disassociating to help her survive. When her mother remarried while Montgomery was in high school, the man allegedly beat and raped Montgomery.
ACLU also contended that Montgomery’s current prison is “re-torturing” her as she awaits her death sentence. The prison is accused of forcing Montgomery to take cold showers, denying her undergarments, talking cruelly to her, and leaving lights on 24/7.
The government said that Montgomery is “not entitled to micromanage the conditions of her confinement for her own comfort and convenience.”
The story continues to develop. Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo: Lisa Montgomery & Bobbie Jo Stinnett/Police Handout; Handout]
