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After reviving the death penalty in 1982, Texas reached the milestone of 500 executions with the execution of Kimberly McCarthy, 52, on Wednesday evening. Since 1976, when the US Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume, 40 percent of executions in USA have been in Texas.
However, despite worldwide opposition for death penalties, a poll conducted by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune found last year that 73 percent of respondents favored the death penalty in the state.
Texas state officials remarked that they were only carrying out their statutory duties and for them it made no difference whether it was 499 or 500 executions conducted under the law. Jason Clark, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman told the Associated Press, “We simply carried out the court’s order.”
Kimberly McCarthy was a former therapist at a nursing home, who became addicted to crack cocaine. She attacked Dorothy Booth, 71, a retired psychology professor in her home with a butcher’s knife in 1997. After killing Dorothy, she severed the victim’s finger to get the victim’s wedding ring.
McCarthy’s last statement before receiving the lethal injection of pentobarbital was, “This is not a loss. This is a win. You know where I’m going. I’m going home to be with Jesus. Keep the faith. I love you all.”
She was declared dead at 18:37.
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Maurie Levin, McCarthy’s lawyer issued a statement observing, “Five hundred is 500 too many. I look forward to the day when we recognize that this pointless and barbaric practice, imposed almost exclusively on those who are poor and disproportionately on people of color, has no place in a civilized society.”
Currently, 32 states in USA allow the death penalty.
