Appeals court pauses Christa Pike execution for sentencing review
The court ordered a short stay to consider whether Pike’s claims of severe childhood sexual abuse were taken into account when she was sentenced to death for a 1995 killing.
A federal appeals court temporarily halted Tennessee’s scheduled execution of Christa Pike on Wednesday, ordering a short stay to review whether her claims of severe childhood sexual abuse were considered at sentencing. The lethal injection was due to begin shortly; witnesses had gathered at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, who was 19. Pike was 18 at the time. The appeal concerns whether her abuse history was fully considered in the sentencing process.
Tennessee’s attorney general’s office asked the US Supreme Court to vacate the stay. The Supreme Court had denied an earlier request to halt the execution, and Governor Bill Lee had denied Pike clemency.
Pike’s supporters have also cited her age at the time of the crime and mental illness. Her lawyers raised claims about severe sexual abuse and prenatal alcohol exposure; these are arguments in the case, not findings established in the material provided.
If carried out, the execution would have been Tennessee’s first of a woman in at least 200 years, though historical records are incomplete. The available account does not establish whether the stay was lifted or whether the execution took place.
