The punishment phase of a Tyler capital murder trial starts today for a woman convicted of killing her son’s babysitter.

A Smith County Jury found Kimberly Cargill, 45, guilty of capital murder last week. She could be sentenced to life in prison without parole or given the death penalty.

Cargill was convicted of the June 2010 murder of Cherry Walker, whose burned body was found off County Road 2191 in Smith County. Walker was killed a day after she received a subpoena to testify in a child custody case involving Cargill’s son.

If sentenced to death, Cargill would be the first woman executed in Texas since Frances Newton in 2005, and the fourth in Texas since 1863. Only 51 women have been executed in the United States since 1900.

The case is being tried in 241st district court in Tyler.

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