Virginia Christian
Encyclopedia
Virginia Christian was the first female executed in the 20th century in the state of Virginia, and a juvenile offender executed in the United States
. She was also the only female juvenile executed by electric chair
and, to date, the last female executed in the electric chair by the Commonwealth of Virginia
. She was the last female executed by the Commonwealth until Thursday, September 23, 2010 when Teresa Lewis
became the first female in nearly a century to be executed in the US state of Virginia.
Christian, a black maid, was convicted for the murder of her employer Mrs. Ida Virginia Belote, a white woman, aged 72 years, in her home at Hampton on 18 March 1912. It is said she confessed shortly after she was arrested.
Belote frequently mistreated 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'. 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)
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 electric chair. 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
William Hodges Mann
declined to commute the death sentence, despite a plea from Virginia's mother, Charlotte Christian, who wrote to him:
Christian 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.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She was also the only female juvenile executed by electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
and, to date, the last female executed in the electric chair by the Commonwealth of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. She was the last female executed by the Commonwealth until Thursday, September 23, 2010 when Teresa Lewis
Teresa Lewis
Teresa Wilson Bean Lewis was an American who was the only woman on death row in Virginia prior to her execution. She was sentenced to death by lethal injection for using sex and money to arrange for the murders of her husband and stepson in October 2002...
became the first female in nearly a century to be executed in the US state of Virginia.
Christian, a black maid, was convicted for the murder of her employer Mrs. Ida Virginia Belote, a white woman, aged 72 years, in her home at Hampton on 18 March 1912. It is said she confessed shortly after she was arrested.
Belote frequently mistreated 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'. 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)
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 electric chair. 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
Governor of Virginia
The governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term. The position is currently held by Republican Bob McDonnell, who was inaugurated on January 16, 2010, as the 71st governor of Virginia....
William Hodges Mann
William Hodges Mann
William Hodges Mann was an American Democratic politician. Mann was the 46th Governor of Virginia from 1910 to 1914. He attended Brownsburg Academy.-Political career:Brown became Deputy Clerk of Nottoway County, Virginia...
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 Governer 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.
Christian was electrocuted in the state prison in Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. 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.
See also
- List of juvenile offenders executed in the United States
- George StinneyGeorge StinneyGeorge Junius Stinney Jr. was, at age 14, the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th century.The question of Stinney's guilt and the judicial process leading to his execution remain controversial....
- James ArceneJames ArceneJames Arcene was the youngest child sentenced to death, who was subsequently executed for his crime, in the United States. Arcene, a Cherokee man, was hanged by the U.S...