Kelly Gissendaner Executed In Georgia

Kelly Renee Gissendaner, the only woman on Georgia's death row, has been executed, prison officials said early Wednesday.

Gissendaner, 47, was put to death after hours of delays due to numerous eleventh-hour appeals, and despite a plea from Pope Francis to spare her life.
She was the first woman in 70 years to be executed in the state.

Gissendaner died by injection of pentobarbital at 12:21 a.m. Wednesday at the state prison in Jackson. 

She was convicted of murder in the February 1997 slaying of her husband. She conspired with her lover, who stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death.
The United States Supreme Court denied Gissendaner stays of execution three times on Tuesday.

It was the multiple requests to the U.S. Supreme Court for stays that caused the delays Tuesday night, reports CBS Atlanta affiliate WGCL-TV.

Georgia's Supreme Court also denied her a stay Tuesday, and the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to grant her clemency after it met earlier Tuesday to consider new testimony from supporters. The board didn't give a reason for the denial, but said it had carefully considered her request for reconsideration.

Douglas Gissendaner's family said in a statement released Monday that he is the victim and Kelly Gissendaner received an appropriate sentence.

"As the murderer, she's been given more rights and opportunity over the last 18 years than she ever afforded to Doug who, again, is the victim here," the statement says. "She had no mercy, gave him no rights, no choices, nor the opportunity to live his life."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.