The US state of Georgia executed its only woman on death row on Wednesday, marking the first time in 70 years the state has carried out a death sentence on a woman, a prison official said.
Kelly Gissendaner, 47, died by lethal injection at 12:21 am EDT at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, a prison spokesperson said.
Gissendaner was sentenced to death after being convicted of what is known in the state as malice murder for her role in plotting the killing of her husband, Douglas, in 1997.
Pope Francis, who concluded a six-day US trip on Sunday and is an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, had urged officials to commute her death sentence.
Gissendaner’s execution marks the first death sentence carried out against a woman in Georgia in 70 years. She was the 16th woman executed in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday denied last-minute requests for a stay of execution.