The Melvern woman facing execution for killing a Missourian over 15 years ago is once again slated for death.
Late last month, a federal judge vacated an execution date for Jan. 12 in the case of Lisa Montgomery, saying the Justice Department’s decision to set an execution date while the action was on stay was unlawful. On Friday, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the judge was wrong to do so and reinstated the Jan. 12 execution date.
Montgomery’s execution was originally set for Dec. 8, but her defense attorneys came down with COVID-19 and successfully requested a new schedule. Defense attorneys plan to file a petition for the court panel to reconsider its decision. They have also asked President Donald Trump to commute her sentence to life in prison with no hope of parole.
Montgomery, now 52, killed Bobbie Jo Stinnett in December 2004 after Montgomery drove to Missouri, ostensibly to buy a puppy. Montgomery tried to pass the baby off as her own after killing Stinnett but later confessed to the crime. She was convicted in 2007.
The last federal female inmate to be executed was Bonnie Heady after a kidnapping and murder incident in Missouri in the early 1950s.
