Christa Pike was about an hour from her scheduled lethal injection on Wednesday when a federal appeals court stopped it. The 50-year-old would have been the first woman executed by Tennessee in 200 years. If the execution goes ahead, she would be only the fourth woman in the state’s history to be put to death, and the first since 1820. Federal appeals court stays Christa Pike execution with hours to spare +2
Within hours, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti asked the U.S. Supreme Court to override the pause. The ruling came days after Pike wrote to NBC News that she had made her peace with dying. wbir
A 2-1 vote with witnesses already waiting
Pike had been due to die at 10 a.m. local time at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals split 2-1 on the stay after execution witnesses had already gathered at the prison. The HillCNN
The court said it needed time to weigh the arguments both sides had fully briefed and to decide the issues on their merits. The judges want to examine whether Pike’s allegations of childhood sexual abuse and rape were fully considered when she was sentenced. Judge Jane Stranch ruled that Pike’s request for habeas relief deserved attention and that a stay was necessary. Federal appeals court stays Christa Pike execution with hours to spare +2
Stephen Ferrell of Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee said the court acted “recognizing the serious concerns” about the execution. wftv
The state pushed back hard. Its filing argues that the appeals court granted a stay Pike never asked for, without finding she was likely to win, and without addressing how late her motion came. If the justices lift the order quickly, Pike could still be executed on Wednesday. wbirwkrn
Christa Pike’s letter from death row
Pike wrote to NBC News before learning on Monday, September 28, that Gov. Bill Lee would not intervene. “Whether my clemency is granted or not, I am at peace,” she wrote. tylanewsner
She said she was not afraid to die, but admitted she was nervous about the lethal injection itself. In the YouTube documentary Dead Woman Walking: Pike Vs Tennessee, she said she feared staff would not be able to find a usable vein. ladbibleladbible
Her lawyers say that fear has a medical basis. Pike has thrombocytosis, a condition that causes unusually high platelet counts, and her legal team argued that lethal injection could therefore amount to cruel and unusual punishment. She also asked that female staff take her to the gurney and that female officers oversee the execution. newsnernewsner
The Tennessee Department of Correction said she was offered a final meal but declined to choose one. ladbible
The 1995 killing at Knoxville Job Corps
Pike was 18 and a student at the Knoxville Job Corps, a program for low-income young people, when she came to believe that classmate Colleen Slemmer was flirting with her boyfriend, Shipp. yahoo
Prosecutors said Pike and Shipp lured the 19-year-old to an abandoned steam plant near the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus, where they beat, tortured and killed her. A third student kept watch. The Hillladbible
A jury convicted Pike of first-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced her to death. Shipp got life with the possibility of parole. The third participant testified against Pike and received probation. Tennessee quadruple murder suspect captured, arrested +2
Slemmer’s mother has pushed for the sentence to be carried out. Speaking to WKRN this week, she said “maybe now finally we have the justice.” The Hill
Why her case divides opinion
Pike does not deny the killing. Her attorneys and supporters argue that death is the wrong punishment for a crime committed at 18 by a teenager with untreated mental illness, after a childhood of brutal sexual abuse and neglect. She has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder. Tennessee is set to execute a woman for the first time in 200 years : NPR +2
In her clemency petition, Pike called herself “a mentally ill 18-year-old kid.” One of her lawyers, Randall Spivey, put it more bluntly: “Christa was broken, not evil.” ladbibleNBC News
She is the last person in Tennessee sent to death row for a crime committed at 18, the youngest age at which a person can receive a death sentence. Her lawyers say she spent nearly three decades in solitary confinement before a 2024 settlement allowed her to work and share some meals with a small group of women. yahooyahoo
She belongs to a small group nationally. Death Penalty Information Center figures cited by CBS News put the number of women among roughly 2,100 U.S. death row prisoners at just 48. Robin Maher, the center’s executive director, has argued that society’s view of who deserves a death sentence has changed since Pike was sentenced. CBS NewsCBS News
For now, the decision is back with the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the justices denied Pike’s own request to stop the execution, without explanation. It is unclear when they will rule on the state’s request to let it proceed. The Hillwbir
