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(SKIDMORE, Mo.) A federal judge has delayed the execution of Lisa Montgomery after her lawyers contracted the coronavirus.
The judge's order blocks the government from executing Montgomery before Dec. 31. Her execution date was set for Dec. 8. A new date has not yet been set.
Montgomery was convicted 13 years ago of strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett, of Skidmore, and cutting her baby from her womb. Stinnett was eight months pregnant.
Two lawyers representing Montgomery filed the lawsuit to delay Montgomery's execution because they contracted COVID-19 while working on her case.
The court ruled that their symptoms limited them from filing a clemency petition in an effort to save Montgomery's life.
Montgomery is the first woman to face the federal death penalty in 70 years.
