Linda Carty story: who is British grandma on death row in US and what happened to neighbour Joanna Rodriguez?

A new ITV documentary series presented by Susanna Reid explores the lives of women on death row in Texas.

Since the death penalty was reinstated in the US in 1976, 573 people have been executed in Texas - six of these were women.

There are currently six women on death row in Texas, including Darlie Routier, who was sentenced for the stabbing of her two sons and was the subject of a previous episode.

In one episode of the series, Reid meets with British grandmother Linda Carty who has been on Texas’ death row for two decades.

Who is Linda Carty?

Linda Carty, 63, born in Saint Kitts and Nevis, which was a British territory at the time, was sentenced to death in 2002.

Carty moved to the US in 1982, and now holds joint US and British citizenship.

Carty was convicted of auto theft and impersonation of an FBI agent in 1992 and was given 10 years probation in exchange for her agreeing to work as a drug informant.

Her role as a drug informant ended when she was convicted on drug charges herself.

Why is Linda Carty on death row?

In 2001, she committed the horrific crime for which she would be handed a death sentence.

On 16 May, Carty abducted and killed 25-year-old Joana Rodriguez with the intention of stealing her newborn son with the help of three men.

The victim, Rodriguez, was Carty’s neighbour and was kidnapped along with her son from her Houston home.

Raymundo Cabrera, Rodriguez’s husband, who was in bed with his wife and baby at the time of the kidnapping, told the court that he was beaten by the intruders and tied up.

At court it was heard  that Carty had brought scrubs and scissors with the intention of cutting the baby out of Rodriguez, being unaware that the child had been born four days previously.

Rodriguez was found in the boot of Carty’s car and it was revealed that she died by suffocation, whilst her son was found alive in another car with no visible injuries.

Carty continues to protest her innocence to this day, saying that she had nothing to do with the crime.

She maintains that she was framed by her co-defendants, who were drug dealers, in retaliation for her work as a drug informant.

When was Linda Carty convicted?

Carty was convicted of murder on 19 February 2002 and sentenced to death by lethal injection, the primary method of execution in the state.

An automatic appeal was rejected by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2004, and a subsequent appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals was rejected in 2009.

In a 2010 Supreme Court appeal, the British government filed an amicus curiae brief, stating their interest in the appeal, but the court refused to hear the appeal.

In 2018, Carty submitted another appeal to the Supreme Court which was once again rejected.

The three men involved in the kidnapping - Gerald Anderson, Chris Robinson and Carlos Williams - received lengthy sentences for their involvement in the crime, although murder charges against all three were dropped.

Chris Robinson and Gerald Anderson pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping. Robinson was sentenced to 45 years and Anderson received a life sentence.

Carlos Williams was convicted by a jury of kidnapping, and was sentenced to

20 years.

When is Death Row’s Women on TV?

Death Row’s Women with Susanna Reid will air on 22 March at 9pm ITV.

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