A federal appeals court halted the execution of Christa Pike, a 50-year-old woman set to become the first female inmate put to death in Tennessee in over two centuries. The stay, granted less than two hours before the scheduled lethal injection, allows time for the court to review Pike’s claims of childhood trauma and sexual abuse.
Pike, 18 when she committed a 1995 murder, was sentenced to death after confessing to the slaying of Colleen Slemmer. Her lawyers argued that her mental health struggles, including bipolar disorder and PTSD, should mitigate her sentence. The Tennessee attorney-general appealed the decision, urging the Supreme Court to reject the stay.
The execution, set for Nashville’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, has drawn international attention. UN experts and trauma specialists have called for commutation of Pike’s death sentence, citing the potential for severe psychological distress during the procedure. The case highlights the rarity of female executions in the U.S., with only 18 women among 1,683 executions since 1976.
Tennessee prison officials previously abandoned an execution attempt due to failed vein access. Pike’s case underscores the complex legal and ethical debates surrounding capital punishment, particularly for women convicted of crimes committed in adolescence.