Current Connection #1

A recent article by reporters from Foxnews.com entitled "Texas inmate convicted of killing neighbor will be 1st woman put to death in US since 2010" published on January 29, 2013, informs readers about a woman named Kimberly Mccarthy, 51, who will be the first female inmate in three years to be put to death in the U.S. This article gives insight into McCarthy's crime, the reasons for her execution, and former female executions.

Fox reports that McCarthy was sentenced to death in 2002 for the robbery, beating, and fatal stabbing of retired college professor Dorothy Booth in 1997. The lethal injection is planned for Tuesday, January 30th, making Mccarthy the 13th woman executed in the U.S and the fourth in Texas. The article states that, "According to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, 3,146 people were on the nation's death rows as of last Oct. 1, and only 63 — 2 percent — were women."

Evidence shows that at the time of the event Ms. McCarthy was suffering from severe drug addiction.
In an attempt to spare Mccarthy's life, her lead attorney, Doug Parks, argues that drug use was McCarthy's downfall. "I think when she's off dope she's probably a pretty good person," he said. "I believe now, as I did then, that in the penitentiary, Kim would be absolutely no danger to anyone." However, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review her case. McCarthy has been tried twice for Booth's slaying, most recently in 2002 when she was finally sentenced to death.

DNA evidence also ties McCarthy to 2 other slayings which occured in December 1988. The first victim, 81-year-old Maggie Harding, was stabbed and beaten with a meat tenderizer, while the second victim 85-year-old Jettie Lucas was beaten with both sides of a claw hammer and stabbed.
Former Dallas County assistant district attorney Greg Davis says, "She took the most defenseless, the most helpless people, people that trusted her, that she chose to attack" McCarthy has denied involvement in these attacks and refuses to to speak with reporters as her execution date nears.

I find this article sad and insightful because it depicts the true nature of some people and how heartless they can be. I believe that Kimberly McCarthy is a cold blooded killer and if she were to be released from prison she would most likely kill again. It is obvious that something more needs to be done about criminals in today's society, something more than a weak 5 year sentence and probation for committing a crime as haneous as murder. If one person thinks they are fit enough to take another person's life, then that person should have their life snatched away from them also. In my opinion, McCarthy is getting a punishment fit for her.