Lancaster Woman’s Execution To Be Delayed

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A woman scheduled to be put to death next week has been given a temporary stay of execution. Kimberly McCarthy of Lancaster was convicted of the brutal 1997 murder of an elderly neighbor. But a press release from Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said that her execution date has been moved from April 3 to June 26.

McCarthy was sentenced to death for the robbery, beating and fatal stabbing of 71-year-old retired college professor Dorothy Booth. McCarthy went to Booth’s home under the pretense of needing a cup of sugar. Police said that she a crack cocaine addict who used a butcher knife to cut off Booth’s finger and remove her wedding ring.

DNA evidence linked McCarthy to Booth’s murder and the murders of two other women. She was never tried on those other cases.

In the District Attorney’s statement, Watkins said, “When I sign a death warrant in Dallas County, I want the public to trust that the inmate who was sentenced to death by a jury received a fair trial.”

The delay comes as “six proposed bills seek to improve the fairness of the ultimate punishment.” Those six bills in the Legislature address a number of issues involving death penalty cases. One of the bills introduced would require biological testing of all evidence for DNA before seeking the death penalty.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/03/29/watkins-agrees-to-delay-womans-execution/