US judge blocks execution of woman on death row for cutting baby from womb

Lisa Montgomery was due to be killed by lethal injection on January 12 after being convicted in 2007 in Missouri for murdering a pregnant woman

She was the only woman on federal death row in the US, but a judge blocked the execution on mental health grounds

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Death row inmate Lisa Montgomery has been granted a stay of execution, after she was set to be the first female inmate executed by the US federal government in 70 years. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:34pm, 12 Jan 2021Updated: 2:38pm, 12 Jan 2021

A federal judge in Indiana late on Monday blocked the execution of Lisa Montgomery, a convicted murderer and the only woman on federal death row in the United States, on mental health grounds, based on evidence that she was unable to understand the government’s rationale for her execution.

The decision was later upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit, pushing any new execution date into Joe Biden’s administration unless the Supreme Court intervenes.

Montgomery, who was due to be killed by lethal injection on January 12, was convicted in 2007 in Missouri for kidnapping and strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett, then eight months pregnant. Montgomery then cut Stinnett’s foetus from the womb. The child survived.

US judge James Patrick Hanlon granted a stay of execution to allow the court to conduct a hearing to determine whether she is competent to be executed, according to a court filing made in the US district court of Southern District of Indiana.

Montgomery’s lawyer, Kelley Henry, welcomed the judge’s ruling and said the court was right to put a stop to her execution.