Georgia to execute only woman on state's death row Monday

The only woman on Georgia's death row is set to be executed Monday evening.

Kelly Renee Gissendaner, 46, is set to die at 7:00 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson. She was originally set to be executed last Wednesday, but the Department of Corrections postponed her execution because of projected winter weather conditions and associated scheduling issues. 

Gissendaner was convicted of murder in the February 1997 stabbing death of her husband. Prosecutors said she plotted his death with her boyfriend, Gregory Owen.

Owen pleaded guilty and is serving a life prison sentence.

Sunday night, more than a hundred people gathered to pray for Gissendaner. 

Gissendaner's execution will be the first of a female inmate in more than 70 years in Georgia. She will be only the 16th woman put to death nationwide since the Supreme Court in 1976 allowed the death penalty to resume. 

Despite some opposition to the execution, Prosecutor Danny Porter, who laid out the case against Gissendaner years ago, says the punishment is appropriate. In a statement, he says the case was reviewed by both state and federal courts and the trial was found to be a fair showing both for and against the death sentence.

Two of Gissendaner's children were at Sunday's vigil, but left without saying anything to reporters.