Texas Carries Out Its 500th Execution Since 1982, Putting Kimberly McCarthy to Death for a 1997 Lancaster Murder
McCarthy, 52, was the first woman executed in the U.S. in nearly three years. DNA also tied her to two 1988 killings for which she was never tried.
Published
Kimberly McCarthy killed her neighbor, Dorothy Booth, during a 1997 robbery in Lancaster, Texas. On June 26, 2013, she became the 500th person executed in Texas since 1982.
McCarthy, 52, was pronounced dead at 6:37 p.m. in Huntsville after a lethal dose of pentobarbital. She was the first woman executed in the United States in nearly three years. In her final statement she thanked her spiritual adviser, family and lawyer and said, "This is not a loss, this is a win. You know where I am going. I am going home to be with Jesus." Earlier in 2013 she had been hours from execution when a Dallas judge delayed it; her lawyer had argued that Dallas County prosecutors improperly excluded Black jurors from her trial.
On July 21, 1997, McCarthy entered Booth's home in Lancaster, about 15 miles south of Dallas, intending to rob her, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Booth, a retired college psychology professor, was fatally stabbed in a struggle, and McCarthy then used her credit cards and car. McCarthy, a former occupational therapist, was received on death row in December 1998. DNA evidence also tied her to the December 1988 killings of Maggie Harding, 81, and Jettie Lucas, 85; she was indicted but never tried in those deaths.
The Texas prison system's record gave Dorothy Booth's age as 70, while the Associated Press reported that she was 71.
Sources
- Death Row Information and Last Statement: Kimberly McCarthy, Texas Department of Criminal Justice
- Texas carries out 500th execution with Kimberly McCarthy, CBS News (Associated Press)