Lisa Montgomery Executed By Lethal Injection Despite Appeals Made On Mentally Ill Female Inmate

The attention right now in the United States is the potential second impeachment of President Donald Trump. This stems from the recent U.S. Capitol attacks with Trump being singled out as the one who incited the chaos.

And as this is happening, overshadowed was the execution of Lisa Montgomery. She was executed by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, becoming the 11th federal death row inmate to be executed by the Trump administration at a 17-year hiatus, CNN reported. Montgomery was sentenced to death in 2008.

Montgomery is serving time for strangling a pregnant woman before cutting out and kidnapping her baby in Missouri in 2004. The victim, Bobbie Jo Stinnett, bled to death but the baby was recovered and returned to the rightful family, BBC reported.

Before the execution took place, Montgomery’s Attorney (Kelley Henry) tried everything to delay the execution. They reason that the 52-year-old was mentally ill and the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of people like Montgomery due to their severe mental illness or brain damage since they do not understand the basis for their executions.

“Our Constitution forbids the execution of a person who is unable to rationally understand her execution,” Henry said. “The current administration knows this. And they killed her anyway. Violating the Constitution, federal law, its own regulations, and longstanding norms along the way.”

Montgomery was the only female on death row and the first woman to die under the death penalty in nearly seven decades. The sentence was carried out after the lifted one stay and declined another last-minute request to be delayed by the Supreme Court, the Washington Post reported.

According to doctors, Montgomery is suffering from bipolar disorder and brain damage. Lawyers claim that such was the result of years of abuse she suffered from her mother and stepfather.

But in papers filed with the Supreme Court, Montgomery allegedly understood her crime and punishment, meaning the courts should not delay a death penalty.

Before she was executed, witnesses said that a woman standing next to Montgomery removed her facemask and asked her if she had any last words. Montgomery responded with a simple “no.” She died at 1:31 a.m. on Wednesday.

Two more executions are scheduled this week although their executions were halted. Both are recovering from COVID-19 but prosecutors plan to appeal the ruling.

President-elect Joe Biden is against capital punishment and plans to push to eliminate the federal death penalty. He is expected to pause executions once he is sworn into office.