Tennessee due to execute woman for first time in two centuries - Reuters

Tennessee’s Department of Correction has set a date for the execution of a female inmate, marking the first time a woman will be put to death in the state since the early 20th century. The execution is scheduled for July 2024 and will be carried out by lethal injection at the state’s penitentiary in Nashville.

The inmate, who was convicted in the mid‑1990s of first‑degree murder, received a death sentence after being found guilty of killing a man during a robbery. She has exhausted her direct appeals and subsequent post‑conviction relief efforts, and the state’s highest court has upheld the conviction and sentence.

Governor Bill Lee signed the death warrant in early June, authorizing the state to proceed with the execution. The Department of Correction confirmed that all procedural requirements have been met and that the execution will follow the state’s standard protocol for lethal injection.

Legal advocates and death‑penalty opponents have noted the historical significance of the case, pointing out that Tennessee has not executed a woman since 1916. However, officials have emphasized that the decision is based solely on the legal process that concluded with the inmate’s affirmed death sentence.

The scheduled execution will be the first female execution in Tennessee in more than two centuries, a fact that has drawn national attention to the state’s use of capital punishment and to the broader debate over the death penalty in the United States.