Lisa Montgomery: Judge blocks execution of only woman on federal death row hours before lethal injection April Roach A federal judge has blocked the execution of the only woman on death row in what was set to be the US government’s first execution of a female inmate in nearly seven decades. The 52-year-old strangled the expectant mother, who was eight months pregnant, cut the baby from her womb and passed off the newborn as her own. Indiana Judge Patrick Hanlon granted the stay late on Monday, saying that Montgomery’s mental competence needed to be determined, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.