Woman to become first female federal inmate executed in 67 years

WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT: A woman is set to become the first female federal inmate executed in the US in almost 70 years.

Lisa Montgomery, 52, from Kansas in the US state of Missouri, is set to be killed by lethal injection on December 8, according to the US Justice Department.

Attorney General William Barr said in a statement Montgomery visited the home of Bonnie Stinnett, who was pregnant, in December 2004 reportedly to buy a puppy.

“Once inside the residence, Montgomery attacked and strangled Stinnett—who was eight months pregnant—until the victim lost consciousness,” he said.

“Using a kitchen knife, Montgomery then cut into Ms Stinnett’s abdomen, causing her to regain consciousness.

“A struggle ensued, and Montgomery strangled Ms Stinnett to death.”

Montgomery then took the baby and attempted to pass it off as her own. She later confessed to murder and abducting the child.

In a statement, Montgomery’s lawyer Kellen Henry said her client was mentally ill and had suffered childhood abuse.

“The abuses Lisa endured exacerbated a genetic predisposition to mental illness inherited from both sides of her family,” Ms Henry said in a statement.

“She suffers from complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and to this day must maintain a complex regimen of anti-psychotic medications to control her episodic psychosis.

“In the grip of her mental illness, Lisa committed a terrible crime. Yet she immediately expressed profound remorse and was willing to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence with no possibility of release.”

She added Montgomery’s execution is a “profound injustice” and she had “long-accepted” responsibility for her crimes.

Montgomery is the first female federal inmate to be executed in the US in 67 years and the only female of 55 prisoners on death row now.

The execution will be the eighth execution of a federal prisoner since July.

Female prisoners have been executed more often in state prisons in the US. There have been 16 women executed in state prisons since 1976, when the Supreme Court lifted a moratorium on the death penalty across the US.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.