A female death row inmate has been put to death on Wednesday in the state of Georgia despite legal appeals and numerous petitions for mercy from anti-death penalty advocates, the convict's children and even Pope Francis. The last time that a female prisoner was executed in Georgia was seven decades ago.

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CNN reported that Georgia authorities executed Kelly Gissendaner a few minutes past midnight. She was originally slated for execution on Tuesday evening, but legal representatives tried to elevate their appeals to the country's supreme court in hopes that the execution will be delayed.

In 1997, Kelly Gissendaner was accused of being the mastermind in the death of her husband, Doug Gissendaner. The killer, George Owen, stabbed Doug to death. It turned out that Kelly and Owen were lovers at that time. Owen implicated Kelly in court in exchange for life imprisonment and not the death penalty.

The Holy See reportedly sent a written note pleading to authorities in Georgia to commute the death sentence to life in prison instead. However, a government spokesperson declined to comment if they have received the Pope's written appeal citing the privacy concerns.

Pope Francis maintained that the church sympathizes with the victims of the crime, but doesn't see how killing the convicted will be an act of justice. The Catholic Church has routinely launched commutation appeals for prisoners sentenced to death in the United States.

Relatives and sympathizers of the late Gissendaner rejoiced after hearing that the Kelly had been executed despite efforts to delay or overturn the death sentence.

Kelly's children had also issued appeals for clemency on behalf of their mother saying that their late father would not want them to lose another parent.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal is said to have received a petition containing the signatures of around 100,000 people imploring him to stop Kelly's execution.

Defense lawyers claim Kelly's death penalty is too severe given her role in her husband's murder. They have pointed out that it was Kelly's former lover, Owen, who actually killed George.

Kelly was supposed to have been executed in February this year. But he execution was postponed due to some technical issues.

Kelly's last words was reportedly a message to her children saying that she loves them.

Tagsfemale convict executed, female death row inmate, Kelly Gissendaner, Doug Gissendaner, George Owen, Georgia death penalty, Georgia death row, Pope Francis, Gov Nathan Deal