Toni Jo Henry

Toni Jo Henry
Born
Annie Beatrice McQuiston

January 3, 1916
DiedNovember 28, 1942(1942-11-28) (aged 26)
Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, U.S.
Cause of deathExecution by electrocution
NationalityAmerican
Other namesTony Jo Hood
Known forMurder of Joseph P. Calloway
Conviction(s)First degree murder
Criminal penaltyDeath sentence

Toni Jo Henry (née Annie Beatrice McQuiston;[1] January 3, 1916 – November 28, 1942) was the only woman ever to be executed in Louisiana's electric chair.[2] Married to Claude 'Cowboy' Henry, she decided to break her husband out of jail where he was serving a fifty-year sentence in the Texas State Penitentiary for murder. Together with Harold Burks, she took a ride with Joseph P. Calloway, whom they then robbed and murdered. Toni Jo Henry was convicted and sentenced to death. After three trials,[3] she was executed by electrocution on November 28, 1942. Her case generated several popular books and films including A Savage Wisdom and Stone Justice.

  1. ^ Gillespie 2009, p. 46.
  2. ^ O'Shea 1999, p. 192.
  3. ^ Baker 2015, p. 141.