by Robert A. Waters
Kimberly McCarthy would do anything for crack. Anything. On July 22, 1997, the Lancaster, Texas addict called her neighbor, seventy-one-year-old Dr. Dorothy Booth, and asked to borrow a cup of sugar.
On arriving at Booth’s home, McCarthy attacked her with a candelabrum and two butcher knives. As Booth lay dead (or maybe while she was still alive), McCarthy cut off her finger. Removing Booth’s diamond wedding ring, McCarthy then pawned it for $200. Police arrested the killer at a liquor store while she was in the act of using Booth’s credit cards.
Court records describe the evidence against Kimberly Lagayle McCarthy: “We first note that the State offered ample evidence of appellant's guilt...The victim's caller ID records showed that she received two calls from an anonymous number on July 22, 1997, at 6:19 a.m. and 6:29 a.m. [on the day of the murder]. Harry Wilkins, Jr., aka, ‘Smiley,’ testified that appellant was driving the victim's white Mercedes Benz station wagon when she met him on the morning of July 22, 1997, to inquire about buying crack cocaine. The State further showed that appellant pawned the victim's diamond ring on July 22, 1997, and that she used the victim's credit cards at several locations on July 23, 1997. When appellant was arrested on July 24, 1997, she attempted to take with her a tote bag containing the victim's driver's license and several of the victim's credit cards. The State's strongest independent evidence of appellant's guilt was produced when the police executed a search warrant at appellant's home on July 24, 1997. Officers found a large knife stained with Dr. Booth's blood in appellant's kitchen cabinet above the refrigerator. The bloody knife matched other knives found in the kitchen drawers of appellant's house. [DNA tests confirmed that the blood on the knife was consistent with Booth’s blood.]”
In Texas, as in all other states, it’s exceedingly rare for a female to be sentenced to death. The pre-meditated and gruesome nature of this case convinced the judge to sentence McCarthy to the ultimate penalty.
McCarthy’s execution is scheduled for January 29, 2013. Texas is serious about justice, and so, unless there is a surprise ruling by an appellate court, she will receive her reward. As she trudges toward the gurney, will McCarthy remember the frail neighbor who tried to help her by giving her sugar? Will she feel remorse for her savage and lethal attack on Dorothy Booth? Will she think of her victim’s still-grieving family?
I think not. More likely, she’ll see herself as the victim. And the sad thing is that there are those who will agree with her.
4 comments:
I have just recently become acquainted with the case concerning Ms. McCarthy. I am not new to dealing with crime and criminals. I am a former major crimes detective, as well as corrections officer. I have a strong background as a criminal justice professional. It appears that the criminal justice system has proven it's case against Ms. McCarthy and just may come as soon as Jan. 29th, 2013. However to project an opinion as to the state of mind as to whether the accused is remorseful for the crime she was convicted of is unfair. The crime occurred in 1997; and Ms. McCarthy has had plenty of time to consider what lead her to be in her present condition. The Power of God has the ability to touch any human heart; no matter how despicable the crime. It is possible that Ms. McCarthy has changed to the extent, that she is no longer the same person that committed the crime, that she is now on deathrow for. One of the things I have learned in presenting a case; it's only the facts that matter. One's opinion is just that.... Your narrative concerning the crime appears to be accurate. Your supposition about Ms. McCarthy being remorseful for the crime or not, is merely your opinion. On Jan. 29th, 2013, if the execution of Ms. McCarthy is carried out; it is quite possible the person they execute wont be the same person in spirit that committed the crime that lead to her execution. Fortunately for her you and I God is willing to forgive her of all of her sins and receive her unto God's Self.
there is no way to know what this woman feels, and frankly, I don't care if she is sorry or not. That is between her and her God. The fact that she found herself capable of doing what she did is what concerns me, and is why she was sentenced by a jury of her peers.
My heart goes out to her victim, and the family of the victim. They are the ones we should be concerned about. Hopefully they will be able to have some measure of peace when the sentence is finally carried out.
Dorothy Booth was not McCarthy's first victim. During the sentencing phase, prosecutors also introduced evidence that McCarthy murdered and robbed two other elderly women - Maggie Harding, 71, and Jettie Lucas, 85 - a decade earlier with similar brutality. I suspect that she murdered even more elderly women. She can burn in hell.
Evidence presented during the trial and sentencing phases of McCarthy was so water-tight and compelling that any average-minded person would have concluded that the poor lady deserves what she is about to get. The criminal justice structures in Texas, as elsewhere in the world, have a constitutional mandate to protect the greater society from people like Kimberly. The lady should simply not be allowed to continue walking this earth again when she is such a danger to our mothers and sisters.
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