Hannah Ocuish was executed at the age of twelve years and nine months, being hanged on 20 December 1786, in New London

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. She is believed to be the youngest person legally executed in America. http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/regional_studies_northeast.htm

A mentally retarded

Mental retardation

Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...

 Pequot Indian

Pequot

Pequot people are a tribe of Native Americans who, in the 17th century, inhabited much of what is now Connecticut. They were of the Algonquian language family. The Pequot War and Mystic massacre reduced the Pequot's sociopolitical influence in southern New England...

 girl, she was accused of killing the young daughter of a prominent white family after quarreling with her over some strawberries. The primary evidence against her was her confession to the investigators. At her execution, she thanked the sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

 for his kindness as she stepped forward to be hanged

Hanging

Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...

.

Various websites mistakenly report her name as Hannah Omish and report the year of her death as 1876.

See also

• Capital punishment in Connecticut
  Capital punishment in Connecticut
  Capital punishment in Connecticut currently exists as an available sanction for a criminal defendant upon conviction for the commission of a capital offense. Connecticut, along with New Hampshire, are the only two New England states that maintain a death penalty. Since the 1976 United States...
  
  
• Capital punishment in the United States
  Capital punishment in the United States
  Capital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...
  
  
• List of individuals executed in Connecticut