UPDATE: Henderson’s execution date of April 18 was stayed in order to consider new defense motions in the case. A new execution date of June 13 was tentatively set.
Upcoming Texas Execution Raises Questions of Appropriate Sentence
Cathy Henderson (pictured with Sr. Helen Prejean) is scheduled to be executed in Texas on April 18 for the 1994 murder of Brandon Baugh, an infant she was babysitting. Henderson would be the 12th woman put to death in the U.S. since capital punishment was reinstated. (See DPIC’s updated page on Women and the Death Penalty). Since her arrest, Henderson has maintained that the child’s death was accidental. Henderson said that she is sorry for Brandon’s death and that she feels regret every day for the pain she caused his family. Watch an interview of Henderson with the Kansas City Star (Windows Media Player).
There are currently 50 women on death row. If Cathy Henderson’s execution takes place, she will be the fourth woman executed in Texas since 1976.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Henderson’s recent appeal. She is seeking clemency from Texas Governor Rick Perry. Read Henderson’s petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. See also DPIC’s item on this case.
