Texas Executes 500th Inmate Since Death Penalty Was Reinstated in 1982

Family believe justice has been done

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Family and friends of Dorothy Booth waited 16 years - enduring two trials and countless appeals - for the measure of closure that came Wednesday evening when the woman who brutally beat and fatally stabbed their loved one was executed for her crime.

Because Kimberly McCarthy's execution marked the 500th in Texas since the state resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982, it drew increased attention from protesters and the media. But for Booth's loved ones, it was personal.