Women on Death Row

Linda Carty was sentenced to death on February 19, 2001 for the kidnapping of three-day-old newborn Ray Cabrera, and the kidnapping and murder of his mother, Joana Rodriguez. While she was living in Texas at the time of the crime, controversy surrounds Carty's case, as she is a native of St. Kitts and is a British citizen. Those who worked on the case and experts on death row and the criminal justice system reflect on the case and what led to Carty's death sentence.

On May 23, 1995, Kerry Lyn Dalton was sentenced to death for the torture and murder of Irene "Melanie" May. Melanie was last seen alive on June 26, 1988, and because she was a meth addict with no fixed address, police did little to investigate her disappearance. It wasn't until four years later that police arrested Kerry and two others after several witnesses told authorities that the three openly bragged about beating, stabbing, and injecting Melanie with battery acid before dismembering her body and burying her in the desert.

In 1998, a fire in Sandi Nieves' home that started under suspicious circumstances led to her conviction for arson, the murders of her four daughters, and the attempted murder of her son David, who survived the fire. Sandi is awaiting the possibility of a new trial and says her only reason for existing is the thought of one day being able to talk to her son.

On July 10, 2008, Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death for the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah; the Innocence Project digs into her case and uncovers staggering problems, but authorities show no sign of intervening.