Virginia Christian

Who was Virginia Christian?

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.