Kimberly McCarthy on
Wednesday evening became the 500th
prisoner executed in Texas since 1976,
when the death penalty was reinstated in
the state, according to the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice.
McCarthy was pronounced dead at 7:37
p.m. ET at the Texas State Penitentiary in
Huntsville, Texas, said department
spokesman John Hurt.
The 52-year-old former occupational
therapist was convicted in 1997 of
murdering her 71-year-old neighbor,
Dorothy Booth, a retired college
professor.
Booth was found beaten and stabbed to
death, and one of her fingers was
severed, indicating a ring was forcibly
removed, the Department of Criminal
Justice said.
Evidence later showed McCarthy had
pawned the stolen diamond ring the day
of the crime. When she was arrested,
McCarthy was found with Booth's credit
cards and a large knife stained with her
neighbor's blood, the department said.
In her last statement,
McCarthy thanked her
supporters, including her ex-
husband, attorney and
spiritual adviser.
"Thank you everybody. This is
not a loss, this is a win. You
know where I am going. I
am going home to be with Jesus. Keep
the faith. I love y'all," McCarthy said,
according to Jason Clark, another
department spokesman.
Outside the prison, nicknamed the "Walls
Unit," a small crowd of demonstrators
gathered Wednesday afternoon to protest
the execution. They held signs that read,
"Don't kill for me" and "End executions in
Texas."
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on
Monday denied McCarthy's appeal of her
sentence and declined on Tuesday to
reconsider it, saying her claims should
have been raised previously, CNN affiliate
KPRC reported.
Texas has led the nation in the number of
executions since 1976, but the number of
states carrying out capital punishment
continues to drop.
Last year, Texas executed more people
than it sentenced to death for the eighth
straight year.
Four states -- Texas, Oklahoma,
Mississippi and Arizona -- accounted for
three quarters of all U.S. executions in
2012.

I am almost crying

Mynd_44: I am almost crying

For the person she killed or for her?!

tchidi:

For the person she killed or for her?!

Can't you smell the sarcasm?

Mynd_44:
Can't you smell the sarcasm?

Yeah! Its so putrid I have a handkerchief over my nose!