Virginia Christian (August 15, 1895 – August 16, 1912) was the first female criminal executed in the 20th century in the state of Virginia, and a juvenile offender executed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. She was also the only female juvenile executed by

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

and, to date, the last female criminal executed in the electric chair by the Commonwealth of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. She was the last female criminal executed by the Commonwealth until September 23, 2010, when

Teresa Lewis Teresa Wilson Bean Lewis (April 26, 1969 – September 23, 2010) was an American murderer who was the only woman on death row in Virginia prior to her execution. She was sentenced to death by lethal injection for the murders of her husband and ...

became the first female criminal in nearly a century to be executed in the US state of Virginia. Christian, a black maid, was convicted of the murder of her employer Ida Belote, a 72-year-old white woman, in her home at

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

on March 18, 1912. Shortly after she was arrested, it is said she confessed that she hit Belote, but that she had never intended to kill her.

Incident

Belote is alleged to have mistreated and abused Christian, and in mid- March 1912, an argument ensued between the two in which Belote accused Christian of stealing a locket and a skirt. Belote hit Christian with a cuspidor, commonly called a '

spittoon A spittoon (or spitoon) is a receptacle made for spitting into, especially by users of chewing and dipping tobacco. It is also known as a cuspidor (which is the Portuguese word for "spitter" or "spittoon", from the verb "cuspir" meaning "to s ...

'. The altercation escalated when Christian and Belote ran for two broom handles Belote used to prop up her bedroom windows. Christian grabbed one of the broom handles and struck Belote on the forehead. In an attempt to stifle Belote's screams, Christian stuffed a towel down Belote's throat, and the woman died by suffocation. When Christian left the house, she stole Belote's purse with some money and a ring. One newspaper reported that police found Belote's body "laying face down in a pool of blood, and her head was horribly mutilated and a towel was stuffed into her mouth and throat".(Streib & Sametz, 1989, p. 25; see also Moten, 1997)

Trial and execution

Police soon arrested Christian, and during questioning, she admitted to hitting Belote but was shocked that Belote was dead. Christian claimed she had no intent to kill Belote. With a lynch mob looming in the background, an Elizabeth City County Court tried and convicted Christian for murder and the trial judge sentenced her to death in the state's

. One day after her 17th birthday in August 1912, a short five months after the crime, Virginia authorities executed Christian at the state penitentiary in Richmond.

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

William Hodges Mann, who was also a Confederate veteran, declined to commute the death sentence, despite a plea from Virginia's mother, Charlotte Christian, who wrote to him: : My dear, Mr Governor : Please for give me for Bowing low to write you a few lines: I am the mother of Virginiany Christian. I have been pairalized for mor then three years and I could not and Look after Gennie as I wants too. I know she dun an awful weaked thing when she kill Miss Belote and I hear that the people at the penetintry wants to kill her but I is praying night and day on my knees to God that he will soften your heart so that She may spend the rest of her days in prison. they say that the whole thing is in yours Hands and I know if you will onely save my child who is little over sixteen years old God will Bless you for ever … If I was able to come to see you I could splain things to you better but I cant do nothing but pray to God and ask him to help you to simpithise with me and my truble : I am your most umble subgeck, : Charlotte Christian. After the governor declined this request, Christian took her seat in the electric chair, where she was electrocuted in the state prison in Richmond. She was 17 years old. The paper reported that her body was to be turned over to the state medical school, because her parents did not have the money to transport the body from Richmond.

References

External links

* *
Forsaken: The Digital Bibliography
at Virginia Memory * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Virginia 1895 births 1912 deaths People from Hampton, Virginia People executed by Virginia by electric chair American people executed for murder Executed American women American female murderers People convicted of murder by Virginia Executed African-American people Executed people from Virginia Juvenile offenders executed by the United States 20th-century executions of American people

Incident

Trial and execution

See also

References

External links