Free Republic

Georgia has executed Kelly Renee Gissendaner with a fatal injection for the slaying of her husband, despite a plea for clemency from their children.Last-minute appeals from her lawyers to the 11th US circuit court of appeals and the US supreme court as well as the Georgia board of pardons and paroles all failed.Gissendaner, 47, died by injection of pentobarbital at 12:21am EDT on Wednesday at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification prison in Jackson, a prison spokeswoman said.She sobbed as she said she loved her children and apologized to the family of her husband Douglas Gissendaner, who she was convicted of conspiring...

Georgia's parole board declined Tuesday to commute the death sentence of Kelly Renee Gissendaner— even after Pope Francis called for a halt to her execution. Gissendaner, who was sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of her husband at the hands of her lover, is set to receive a lethal injection at 7 p.m. ET. Pope Francis, who called for a ban on the death penalty during his visit to the United States last week, asked the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to spare her life, through a letter written by a local archbishop. "While not wishing to minimize...

Georgia’s only female death row inmate has submitted a rather lengthy list for her last meal ahead of her execution later this month. Kelly Renée Gissendaner, 46, will become the first woman to be executed in seven decades in the state when she receives a lethal injection on February 25. She requested a last meal of cornbread with a side of buttermilk; two Burger King Whoppers with cheese; two large orders of fries; cherry vanilla ice cream; popcorn; a salad with boiled eggs, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, carrots, cheese and Newman’s Own buttermilk dressing; and lemonade. […] (Gissendaner) was convicted...