The execution of a 51-year-old Dallas County woman has been halted by a Dallas County District Judge.

The scheduled execution of Kimberly McCarthy was set for Tuesday evening. She would have been the first woman put to death in the U.S. in three years.

The order from state District Judge Larry Mitchell moves the execution of 51-year-old Kimberly McCarthy to April 3.

McCarthy faced lethal injection for the 1997 robbery, stabbing and beating death of Dorothy Booth, a retired college professor. Booth was a neighbor in Lancaster, about 15 miles south of Dallas.

Evidence in the case showed that McCarthy called Booth to borrow a cup of sugar, then went to get and attacked Booth. Evidence also showed that McCarthy forced Booth’s hand to a chopping block so she could cut off her finger to remove her wedding ring.

Blood DNA evidence also tied McCarthy to the December 1988 slayings of 81-year-old Maggie Harding and 85-year-old Jettie Lucas. Evidence revealed Harding was stabbed and beaten with a meat tenderizer, while Lucas was beaten with both sides of a claw hammer and stabbed.

Last week, The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously refused a clemency request from McCarthy.

Attorneys for Kimberly McCarthy had sought a 120-day reprieve from her scheduled Tuesday execution and that her sentence be commuted to life in prison. The seven-member board turned her down.

McCarthy will be the 13th woman executed in the U.S. and the 4th in Texas.