A Look At The Life & Crimes Of Every Woman On Texas Death Row

Texas Death Row currently only has seven women waiting to be executed.
Here is a look at the shocking and brutal crimes they were convicted of that
landed them in line for the needle.





Brittany Holberg


Brittany Holberg was only 23 years old when she brutally killed an 80-year-old man in Amarillo, Texas
by stabbing him nearly 60 times, hitting him with a hammer, and shoving a lamp post 5 inches down
his throat. Prosecutors argued that Holberg murdered the man to rob him, while her defense argued
that Holberg was protecting herself after the man, who had hired her as a prostitute, became enraged
and hit her after discovering she had a crack pipe. Holberg has sat on Death Row since 1998.





Kimberly Cargill



Kimberly Cargill was 43 years old when she murdered her children's babysitter and set the body on fire in Tyler, Texas.
The prosecution claimed that Cargill was afraid that the woman, who had an intellectual disability, would testify 
against her in a child custody case. Cargill claimed that the woman had a deadly seizure and that she panic-dumped
the body and set it on fire. For a deeper dive into this heinous crime, click here.
Cargill has been on death row since 2012.








Erica Sheppard



Erica Sheppard was convicted of the robbery and stabbing murder of a woman in Houston, Texas. The woman,
who was carrying clothes from her car into her apartment was attacked, had her throat slashed, her head covered
in plastic, and was beaten with a 10-pound statue. Sheppard was found with the victim's car. Her accomplice,
James R. Dickerson, died on death row from late-stage AIDS in 1999.







Taylor Parker



Taylor Parker was 27 years old when she brutally murdered a woman in New Boston, Texas. Parker beat and slashed
her so she could cut her victim's unborn baby out of her abdomen and claim it as her own. The baby did not survive.
To read more about this very unsettling case, click here.








Linda Carty




Linda Carty was 42 years old when she was arrested, along with some accomplices, for the kidnap/ suffocation murder
of a young woman in Houston, Texas. The prosecution claimed Carty participated in the crime to steal the woman's
newborn baby. Carty has maintained that she was framed by drug dealers who discovered she was an informant for
Houston police.
Carty has been on death row since 2002.







Melissa Lucio



Melissa Lucio was 39 years old when her 9th child, a 2-year-old daughter, died. She would go on to be convicted
of having abused the child to death. Even her defense attorney said she was guilty of child abuse, but not of murder,
and claimed that the child fell down stairs, but was not struck to death.
For a deeper dive into this disturbing case, click here.







Darlie Routier




Perhaps the most infamous woman on Texas Death Row is Darlie Routier, who was convicted of the stabbing deaths
of two of her three children inside her Rowlett, Texas home. Routier, now 53, was 27 when the murders happened
but has consistently maintained her innocence. The murders have been the subject of countless TV shows, podcasts
and more. For a deeper dive into this unspeakable crime, click here.