Appeals court pauses Tennessee execution pending sentencing review
The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay as it considers whether evidence of Christa Pike’s childhood sexual abuse was properly weighed at sentencing.
The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted Tennessee’s scheduled execution of Christa Pike less than two hours before she was due to receive a lethal injection. The court is reviewing her argument that evidence of childhood sexual abuse was not properly considered when she was sentenced to death.
Tennessee officials asked the US Supreme Court to lift the stay and allow the execution to proceed. The supplied material does not confirm whether the justices acted or whether the execution took place.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old classmate. Pike was 18 at the time. Her lawyers have also cited diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in seeking to reduce her sentence to life without parole. Governor Bill Lee rejected her clemency request.
If carried out, the execution would be Tennessee’s first of a woman in more than 200 years. It would also be the only execution in the state’s modern death penalty era for a crime committed by a teenager.
