Death Row
Women
Women are rarely sentenced to death in the United States and executions of women are even rarer. Researchers have suggested that women who are sentenced to death are often perceived as breaking gender norms.
DPIC Podcast: Discussions With DPIC
Women and the Death Penalty, with Professor Mary Atwell
Current Female Death Row Prisoners
As of July 1, 2022, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund reports that there were 50 women on death rows across the United States.
| State | County | Name | Race |
|---|---|---|---|
| AL | Franklin | Scott, Christie Michelle | W |
| AL | Houston | Blackmon, Patricia | B |
| AL | Houston | Gobble, Tierra Capri | W |
| AL | Mobile | Keaton, Heather | B |
| AL | Russell | Graham, Lisa | W |
| AZ | Maricopa | Andriano, Wendi | W |
| AZ | Pima | Forde, Shawna | W |
| AZ | Maricopa | Allen, Sammantha | W |
| CA | Alameda | Michaud, Michelle | W |
| CA | Los Angeles | Martin, Valerie | W |
| CA | Los Angeles | McDermott, Maureen | W |
| CA | Los Angeles | Nieves, Sandi | W |
| CA | Los Angeles | Rodriguez, Angelina | L |
| CA | Los Angeles | Samuels, Mary | W |
| CA | Los Angeles | Williams, Manling | A |
| CA | Modoc | Rhoades, Cherie | N |
| CA | Orange | Alfaro, Maria | L |
| CA | Orange | Nelson, Tanya | A |
| CA | Riverside | Hann, Jessica Marie* | W |
| CA | Riverside | Magana, Belinda | L |
| CA | Riverside | Rottiers, Brooke | W |
| CA | Riverside | Sarinana, Cathy | W |
| CA | Riverside | Snyder, Janeen | W |
| CA | San Bernardino | Coffman, Cynthia | W |
| CA | San Diego | Dalton, Kerry | W |
| CA | San Diego | Eubanks, Susan | W |
| CA | San Diego | Gonzales, Veronica | L |
| CA | San Mateo | Carrington, Celeste | B |
| CA | Ventura | Caro, Socorro | L |
| CA | Riverside | Hunter, Lorraine Alison | B |
| FL | Brevard | Allen, Margaret | B |
| FL | Duval | Cole, Tiffany | W |
| FL | Escambia | Brown, Tina | B |
| GA | Gwinnett | Moss, Tiffany | B |
| ID | Ada | Row, Robin | W |
| KY | Fayette | Caudill, Virginia | W |
| LA | Orleans | Frank, Antoinette | B |
| MS | Forrest | Chamberlin, Lisa | W |
| NC | Forsyth | Moore, Blanche T. | W |
| NC | Wake | Parker, Carlette | B |
| OH | Trumbull | Roberts, Donna | W |
| OK | Oklahoma | Andrew, Brenda | W |
| PA | Washington | Tharp, Michelle Sue | W |
| TN | Knox | Pike, Christa | W |
| TX | Cameron | Lucio, Melissa | L |
| TX | Dallas | Routier, Darlie | W |
| TX | Harris | Carty, Linda | B |
| TX | Harris | Sheppard, Erica | B |
| TX | Randall | Holberg, Brittany | W |
| TX | Smith | Cargill, Kimberly | W |
To see Professor Streib’s summaries of the cases of the women who were on death row as of December 2012, click here.
* Jessica Marie Hann, a trans woman, was sentenced under the name Jason Michael Hann and transitioned while on California’s death row
Mar 19, 2015
INNOCENCE: Debra Milke Exonerated from Arizona Death Row
UPDATE: On March 23, 2015, Judge Rosa Mroz officially dismissed the charges against Milke. Milke has been added to DPIC’s exoneration list.
Read MoreNews & Developments
Mental Illness
Dec 27, 2022
Missouri Set to Execute Amber McLaughlin on January 3 in First U.S. Execution of a Transgender Person
On January 3, 2023, Missouri is set to execute Amber McLaughlin (pictured), the first transgender person scheduled to be put to death in the United States. Tried as Scott McLaughlin, her jury rejected thr…
Human Rights
Nov 10, 2022
Death Penalty Information Center Launches Series on Human Rights and the U.S. Death Penalty
The Death Penalty Information Center, supported by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, launched a new project on Human Rights and the U.S. Death Penalty on November 4, 2022, with a live…
Innocence
Aug 01, 2022
Massachusetts Formally Exonerates Last ‘Witch’ Wrongfully Condemned During Salem Hysteria. Will Connecticut Follow Suit?
As Massachusetts formally exonerated the last person condemned for witchcraft in the colony, efforts are under way to clear the names of the 46 people wrongfully charged with witchcraft in neighboring Connecticut …
Human Rights
Mar 23, 2022
Report: Fewer Nations Using the Death Penalty for Drug Offenses, But Executions and Secrecy Are Up in Those that Do
Fewer countries are using the death penalty for drug offenses, but according to a new global report, executions increased in those that did and took place in proceedings characterized by authoritarianism and secrecy. In its eleventh annual…
Innocence
Feb 04, 2022
Melissa Lucio’s Daughter Death May Have Been Accidental. Texas Has Scheduled Her Execution for April 27
The state of Texas has issued a death warrant seeking to execute Melissa Lucio (pictured), a battered woman who was sentenced to death for what may have been an accidental fall that killed her two-year-old daughte…
Conditions on Death Row
Nov 17, 2021
Nebraska Narrowly Avoids Sending First-Ever Woman to Death Row as 3‑Judge Panel Splits on Sentence for Bailey Boswell
Nebraska, which had no plans for housing a female death-row prisoner, has narrowly avoided having to address that failure, as a divided three-judge panel on November 8, 2021 sentenced Bailey Boswell to life in pr…
Innocence
Oct 25, 2021
U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Review Federal Appeals Court Ruling Overturning Grant of a New Trial for Texas Woman on Death Row for What May Have Been the Accidental Death of Her Child
The U.S. Supreme Court on October 18, 2021 denied review in the case of Texas death-row prisoner Melissa Elizabeth Lucio (pictured). Lucio was convicted and sentenced to death on charges that she murdered her two…
Sentencing Alternatives
Oct 07, 2021
Report: More Women Serving Extreme Sentences in the United States
The number of women serving extreme sentences in the United States has increased sharply in the last decade, a September 2021 report by a collaborative of criminal law reform organizations has found. The report,
Innocence
Sep 01, 2021
Massachusetts 8th Graders Push to Exonerate Woman Sentenced to Death in 1693 in Salem Witchcraft Hysteria
A group of 8th graders from North Andover Middle School in North Andover, Massachusetts are championing efforts to posth…
Innocence
Aug 17, 2021
Anti-Violence Advocates, Prosecutors, and Innocence Groups File Supreme Court Briefs in Support of Battered Woman on Texas Death Row
A coalition of advocates for victims of domestic and gender-based violence, former prosecutors, legal scholars, and innocence organizations have filed briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a Texas woman w…