Notorious: The Life And Crimes Of Every Woman Executed In Texas

Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Texas has executed 591 people.

That is the most of any state by a huge margin. Oklahoma follows Texas at 123, according to U.S. News .

However, out of those 591 individuals, only six were women. We will take a look at the crimes juries and the State found so heinous that they were willing to execute these women.

Read More: Dark Texas History: Last Legal U.S. Public Execution Was In Waco

Before the Supreme Court had struck down the death penalty, Texas hadn't executed a woman since the Civil War.

Chipita lives on in legend and ghost stories- we will take a look at her story, and the story of Jane Elkins, the first woman executed in Texas history, as well.

There are probably other women who were hanged- legally, and extra-legally (that is, lynched), whose stories are buried in obscure archives or were lost completely to time or accidents of fate.

All of these women are infamous, but some more than others. The first woman executed since the Civil War, Karla Faye Tucker , inspired many to plead for her life, even though her crime was incredibly violent and disturbing.

Read More: Meet Joe Johnson, The Last Texan Executed By Electric Chair

Some of these women killed for greed (or were they abused? Or framed altogether), while others were high, addicted, and desperate. One of these women was convicted of some of the worst child abuse I've ever heard about.

Will Texas execute another woman? It's fairly likely, as the notorious Darlie Routier and T aylor Renee Parker sit behind those bars, along with others convicted of the worst imaginable crimes.

Here is a look at the women who paid the ultimate price in Texas, including all executed in the modern era, and the first and last women legally hanged in Texas: