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Oklahoma executes woman by lethal injection

From staff and wire reports

McALESTER, Oklahoma -- A woman convicted of killing a childhood friend and later murdering a lesbian lover was executed Thursday night, becoming the first black woman executed in the United States since 1954.

Wanda Jean Allen, 41, was pronounced dead at 9:21 after receiving a lethal dose of drugs at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

Gov. Frank Keating, an ardent death penalty supporter, cleared the way for the execution by denying a late request for a 30-day stay. A federal appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court also denied last-minute appeals.

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Earlier Thursday, Keating met with civil rights leader Jesse Jackson to discuss Allen's case.

"I do support capital punishment for premeditated killings," Keating said in an interview with CNN. " I certainly want to make sure that all due process and fairness standards apply, that she had every single avenue of appeal in her case."

Jackson, who was arrested Wednesday night along with other demonstrators taking part in a protest outside the prison, said Allen was "mentally challenged" with an IQ of 69 and did not have adequate legal representation during her trial.

"So without mental competency, with a case argued her that was not accurate, without legal protection, she is scheduled to die," said Jackson, who was released Thursday morning.

Allen was the first black woman put to death in the United States since 1954.

She was sentenced to death for killing her lover Gloria Leathers in an argument outside an Oklahoma City-area police station in 1988. At the time Allen was on probation for an earlier manslaughter conviction.

Allen's attorneys contended she was borderline mentally retarded with an I.Q. of 69.

The last black woman put to death in the United States was Betty Butler, convicted of murder and executed in Ohio in 1954. Oklahoma last executed a woman in 1903 when Dora Wright was hanged for murder. Oklahoma was still a territory at that time.

Allen was one of seven death row inmates scheduled for execution this month. Oklahoma's previous one-month record of four execution in May 1933.

Neighboring Texas holds the U.S. record for most executions in a month at eight in both May and June 1997. Oklahoma put 11 people to death in all of 2000, ranking only behind Texas, which set a U.S. record of 40 executions in a year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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