Whitehouse Woman on Death Row Loses State Court Appeal

HOUSTON (AP/Staff) – The state’s highest criminal court has denied an appeal from a Whitehouse woman on death row for the slaying of her developmentally disabled baby sitter more than four years ago. Kimberly Cargill was condemned for the death of 39-year-old Cherry Walker. Evidence showed Cargill killed Walker in June 2010 to keep her from testifying against Cargill at a custody hearing involving Cargill’s 4-year-old child. Walker’s body was found on the side of a rural Smith County road. It had been doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday rejected claims that Cargill’s 2012 trial in Tyler was compromised by multiple errors. The 47-year-old Cargill is among seven women on Texas death row. She does not have an execution date.