US executes first woman in decades. Who was Lisa Montgomery who killed a pregnant woman?

Lisa Montgomery was convicted in 2007 in Missouri for the kidnapping and strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett, an eight months pregnant woman. Lisa Montgomery cut Stinnett's fetus from the womb and strangled her.

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US executes first woman in decades. Who was Lisa Montgomery who killed a pregnant woman?
Lisa Montgomery, a 52-year-old woman hailing from Kansas, was executed by the US government.

Lisa Montgomery, a 52-year-old woman hailing from Kansas, was executed by the US government on Wednesday (IST) in what was the first execution of a woman in the country since 1953. The execution was one of the series of executions approved by the Trump administration recently.

According to the Associated Press, as the execution process began on this day, a woman standing over Lisa Montgomery’s shoulder removed her face mask and asked her if she had any last words. “No,” Montgomery responded in a quiet, muffled voice.

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Montgomery looked nervous and twiddled her thumb but showed no signs of distress as the onlooking journalists waited for the execution. The lethal injection was administered as Montgomery let out a quiet gasp.

At 1:30 am (local time), an official in black gloves with a stethoscope walked into the room, listened to her heart and chest, then walked out. Lisa Montgomery was pronounced dead a minute later.

What was Lisa convicted of?

Lisa Montgomery was convicted in 2007 in Missouri for the kidnapping and strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett, an eight months pregnant woman. Lisa Montgomery cut Stinnett's fetus from the womb and strangled her. Although the child survived the deadly incident, the mother didn’t.

Lisa Montgomery’s lawyers had argued in court that she had suffered an abusive childhood after being serially raped by her stepfather and his friends, which ultimately led to her criminal inclination.

Montgomery’s lawyers sought Trump’s clemency sighting her abusive and traumatic past and demanded life imprisonment instead of the death sentence. However, on Wednesday, Lisa was given the lethal injection, following which she breathed her last.

Some of the victim, Stinnett's relatives travelled to witness Montgomery's execution on Wednesday.

Lisa Montgomery became the 11th prisoner to receive lethal injection since July when President Donald Trump, an ardent supporter of capital punishment, resumed federal executions following 17 years without any.

(With inputs from agencies)