'Womb raider' Lisa Montgomery was found cradling the baby she cut from a mum-to-be while watching her own police appeal.
Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, died at 1.31am (local time) after receiving the lethal injection at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.
She was sentenced to death after strangling 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett, then eight months pregnant, and cutting the baby from the her body in 2004.
Montgomery was tracked down and arrested the next day, with police finding her sat at home cradling the premature baby while watching a news segment about the grisly killing.
Officer Randy Strong, part of the major crime squad on the case, recalled the moment she was found at home in her living room - holding the baby in her arms.
He said: "A we walked across the threshold, our Amber Alert was scrolling across the TV at that very moment."
Officer Strong said he turned to the right after entering the living room to see Montgomery sat with the child, who to his relief was handed over to law enforcement immediately.
Montgomery had told others she was pregnant before the killing, despite being sterilised in an operation which she claimed she was pressured into by her mum.
Her ex-husband filed for custody of two of her children prior to the murder and threatened to expose her pregnancy lies.
Her trial heard that she needed a baby to support her claims.
In 2007, a jury convicted Montgomery and recommended the death penalty, which was upheld by the judge.
A judge however postponed Montgomery's execution on mental health grounds just hours before she was due to receive the lethal injection yesterday.
But just before midnight on Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued an order removing the final legal barriers to the execution.
Kelley Henry, Montgomery's lawyer, called the execution "vicious, unlawful, and unnecessary exercise of authoritarian power".
"The craven bloodlust of a failed administration was on full display tonight," Ms Henry said.
"Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame.
"No one can credibly dispute Mrs. Montgomery's longstanding debilitating mental disease - diagnosed and treated for the first time by the Bureau of Prisons' own doctors."
"Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame.
"No one can credibly dispute Mrs. Montgomery's longstanding debilitating mental disease - diagnosed and treated for the first time by the Bureau of Prisons' own doctors."
Refusing to give any last words, Lisa Montgomery answered 'no' in a quiet, muffled voice when a female executioner asked her if she wanted to say anything just before her death.
