LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Nearly five years after being convicted of murder in the death of her stepdaughter, Tiffany Moss remains the only woman on Georgia's death row.
Should her death sentence be carried out, Tiffany Moss would become only the third woman executed in Georgia.
In April 2019, Moss was convicted of numerous charges, including murder, in the death of her 10-year-old stepdaughter, Emani Moss. Authorities said the child starved to death before her body was burned and stuffed in a trash bag in November 2013.
What happened to Emani Moss?
Tiffany Moss and her husband, Eman Moss, were arrested and charged after Emani's body was found at the Coventry Pointe Apartments on Nov. 2, 2013. At the time, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter called the death the worst case of child abuse he had ever seen.
Emani Moss' Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) case file notes how her father described to police the torture the young girl endured: scalding with boiling water; isolation like a prisoner; and the starvation that ultimately killed her.
Investigators said it appeared her body was placed in the trash can to conceal her death, and that her body had been in the can for "more than a couple of hours."
She weighed just 30 pounds at the time of her death -- about the size of a 3-year-old.
During the trial, prosecutors showed evidence that the Tiffany Moss fed and took care of her biological children while Emani was denied food.
MORE CONTEXT: Emani Moss: 'A history of abuse'
Emani Moss
Eman Moss signed a plea deal in 2015 and is serving a life sentence without parole.
Tiffany Moss represented herself in the capital murder trial. Gwinnett County District Attorney said his office made repeated attempts to convince her to get professional representation.
A jury took less than three hours to find Moss guilty. Watch the moment the death penalty was read.
When will Tiffany Moss be executed?
As of March 2024, an execution date remained unclear.
After Moss's 2019 sentencing, a judge set an execution date in June 2019, but that passed as Moss retained a new lawyer and sought a new trial.
In a January 2024 ruling, Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Karen Beyers rejected Moss's motion for a new trial, stating, in part, Moss "intelligently, voluntarily, and knowingly invoked her right to self-representation".
How many women have been executed in Georgia?
Only two women have previously been executed by the state of Georgia.
In March 1945, Lena Baker was executed in Randolph County for killing the white man she worked for. Baker said he took her from her home and held against her will in a grits mill. When she got a chance, she claimed she shot him in self-defense. Baker, a Black woman, was convicted by an all-white jury.
However, in August 2005, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles posthumously pardoned her.
In September 2015, Kelly Renee Gissendaner became the second woman to be executed by Georgia. She was convicted for her role in the 1997 murder of Doug Gissendaner.
Moss is the only woman on death row. After William Pye's execution on March 20, there are 36 men currently awaiting execution in the state, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Under Georgia law, only three offenses are punishable by death: treason, aircraft hijacking and murder.
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