Women On Death Row: Jodi Arias Could Become Next Woman To Await Execution

Jodi Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday and she now faces the prospect of getting a death sentence.

Beginning tomorrow, the jury will hear arguments over whether Arias should face the death penalty, a punishment that is rarely meted out to women convicted of murder.

The Death Penalty Information Center reports that, as of December, 2012, there were just 61 female inmates on death row. That's less than 2 percent of the 3,146 people awaiting their execution.

A 2010 study found:

Of the approximately 8,200 death sentences that have been imposed across the U.S. since 1973, less than 2 percent have been imposed on female defendants (167 out of 8,292, at the time of the report’s publication). Additionally, only 1 percent of executions in the modern era (since 1976) have been of women (12 out of 1232).

The report also discovered that about 50 percent of women on death row were found guilty of killing a close family member, such as their husband or boyfriend.

MyFox Phoenix reported in February that there are three other women on death row in Arizona, where Arias was convicted.

HLN noted that the last woman to be executed in Arizona was Eva Dugan. She was put to death in a "botched" execution in 1930 after being convicted of murdering her rancher boss.