A federal appeals court stopped the Christa Pike execution on Wednesday morning, roughly one hour before she was scheduled to die by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Pike is 50 and the only woman on death row in Tennessee. world-today-journalnewsner
Three judges heard the request and did not agree. Two voted that a stay was needed so the case could be reviewed, and the third dissented. The order holds the sentence “until further order of this court.” wbirnewschannel10
The ruling came late. The Tennessee Supreme Court had rejected Pike’s last legal challenge, Governor Bill Lee said he would not grant clemency, and the US Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to halt the execution. By Tuesday night, almost every option her lawyers had seemed to be gone. newsner
Why the Sixth Circuit stepped in
WVLT obtained the filing. According to its report, the majority wanted more time to examine the legal arguments. The ruling said the state had recently admitted Pike was abused as a child, and that this admission weakened findings made by earlier courts. wsmv
The order also deals with a procedural point. A federal district court in the Eastern District of Tennessee had decided it had no jurisdiction over Pike’s motion to reopen the judgment that denied her habeas relief. Al Jazeera
Stephen Ferrell of the Federal Defenders Services of Eastern Tennessee said the court acted because it recognized “the serious concerns” about the planned execution. newschannel10
The case is not settled. Tennessee can ask the Sixth Circuit’s active judges to reconsider and lift the stay, or it can go straight to the US Supreme Court. wsmv
A killing at the Knoxville Job Corps
The case began in 1995. Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for murdering 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, who was also a student at the Knoxville Job Corps Center. Pike was 18 when the crime took place. newsnerCBS News
Prosecutors said the motive was jealousy. Pike was in a relationship with another student, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp, and she reportedly saw Slemmer as a rival. Pike, Shipp and a third student, Shadolla Peterson, took Slemmer to a remote spot near the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus and stabbed her to death. Pike was accused of torturing Slemmer and cutting her throat with a box cutter. newsner
The three defendants received very different sentences. Peterson stayed out of prison because she agreed to testify for the state. Shipp was too young to face the death penalty and received a life sentence. nashvillebanner
If Tennessee does carry out the sentence, Pike will be the first woman the state has executed in more than 200 years. newsner
Inside the Christa Pike execution plan
Tennessee law limits who can watch an execution: prison staff, judicial representatives, relatives and a small number of journalists. Up to seven reporters from print, radio and television may attend. newsnerwate
Even fewer people are allowed in the chamber itself. The warden or an associate warden oversees the procedure to make sure the state protocol is followed exactly. The execution team straps the prisoner to a gurney with leather restraints and then gives a lethal dose of pentobarbital. A prison doctor stays in the room or close by, monitors vital signs and declares the time of death. The state attorney general and the sheriff of the county where the crime happened may also be present. newsnernewsner
The victim’s family and the people Pike chose watch from next door through a one-way glass window. Pike may also have her defense attorney and a spiritual advisor with her. Her records say she wanted the advisor present so she could meditate during her last moments. newsner
Pike’s history led to some changes in the usual routine. Female officers were assigned to transport her to Riverbend, and officials said they would try to use only female staff to watch her. She was also promised a privacy screen for showering and using the bathroom. She was allowed to see her spiritual advisor during her final 12 hours, and she turned down a last meal. newsnerwate
Two families, three decades on
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, and her stepfather, Raul Martinez, were cleared to attend. In an earlier Facebook post, Raul said the couple would be at the prison on September 30 “to ensure that her punishment is carried out.” newsnernewsner
May Martinez has spoken publicly about the decades she has waited. She has described picturing her daughter in pain and trying to get away. About Colleen, she said, “She trusted everybody, and that was her downfall.” newsner
Pike wrote a letter before the stay. In it she said she had made peace with whatever happened to her clemency request, and she added, “I am not afraid to die. I am only nervous about the process.” newschannel10
What happens next
On Wednesday morning, a WKRN News 2 crew was sent away from Riverbend before the lethal injection had been scheduled to take place. The sentence is now paused until the Sixth Circuit rules otherwise. wjhl
The pause may be short. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Clive Stafford Smith said the Supreme Court could still overturn the order, and noted that the Court “has been overturning stays recently.”
