Kimberly McCarthy is set to become the 500th inmate in Texas to be executed since 1976. She will be the first woman executed since 2010.
Texas leads the country in executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977. The state has executed more people than it has sentenced to death for the past eight years.
McCarthy, 52, will be executed Wednesday in Huntsville, Texas, barring last-minute action to spare her. The woman is a former occupation therapist who was convicted in 1997 for murdering her 71-year-old neighbor.
Authorities said McCarthy intended to rob her neighbor, a retired college psychology professor, when she went over to her house to borrow a cup of sugar. McCarthy stabbed the 71-year-old several times with a butcher knife and left with her credit cards and her Mercedes. She also cut off her finger to remove her wedding ring.
McCarthy is also tied to two 1988 slayings, both octogenarian women in their homes. She was indicted but not tried for the attacks after denying involvement.
McCarthy's attorney, Maurie Levin, said she has tried every option to get the execution blocked.
“If there was something to appeal, I would,” said Levin.
