Updated at 2:14 a.m. ET Wednesday
Editor s note: This story includes information that may be upsetting to some readers.
Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, died by lethal injection early Wednesday after the Supreme Court vacated several lower-court rulings, clearing the way for her to become the first female prisoner to be put to death by the U.S. government since 1953.
It was midnight when the Supreme Court ended a day of legal challenges, setting aside what Department of Justice attorneys called unwarranted obstacles to the execution of Montgomery for a crime of staggering brutality. By 1:31 a.m. ET Wednesday, she was pronounced dead.