Kelly Gissendaner, the only woman on Georgia’s death row, died of a lethal injection at 12.21 this morning.
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She was sentenced to death for the murder of her husband in 1997 by her lover. Her supporters argued, in part, that her “good works in prison” justified a commutation of her sentence to life imprisonment.
Pope Francis’s representative also sent a letter to Oklahoma officials asking them to spare the life of Richard Glossip, who is slated to be executed on Wednesday, said CNN.
A Georgia woman, who spent 17 years on death row, spent her final hours with a local chaplain, Tuesday night.
Her execution was then reset again for 2 March, but corrections officials postponed that execution “out of an abundance of caution ” because the execution drug appeared “cloudy”.
Even in Gissendaner’s last minutes, her children opted to spend the time pleading with the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles – all to no avail. The letter called back to the pope’s speech to Congress and asked for a different sentence for Gissendaner, one that “would better express both justice and mercy”.
Gissendaner was denied clemency multiple times and had her execution rescheduled twice.
Gissendaner’s execution, originally scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (2300 GMT) Tuesday, was delayed until after midnight owing to pending appeals for stay.
“In the last 18 years, our mission has been to seek justice for Doug’s murder and to keep his memory alive”. They said that while she caused him to die instantly and was robbed of a life, she has been living every day since his death.
The Georgia parole board posthumously pardoned Baker in 2005, six decades after she was executed, declaring in its annual report that “it was a grievous error to deny clemency” to Baker.
The man who carried out the murder, Gregory Owen, Kelly Gissendaner’s boyfriend, was sentenced to life imprisonment in a plea agreement. Prominent public figures also pleaded for Gissendaner’s life, including Pope Francis.
In his letter, Archbishop Vigano said that he did not wish to minimize the gravity of the crime for which Gissendaner was convicted and that he sympathized with the victims. “She targeted him and his death was intentional”, Douglas Gissendaner’s loved ones said in a written statement.
Gissendaner’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied in 2014.
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He claimed the appeals process had been “deeply flawed” and noted Georgia had not executed a person who had not committed the actual killing since reintroducing the death penalty in 1976. Zappa said Gissendaner was prepared for whatever happens, be it a last-minute reprieve or the carrying out of her sentence.
