Reported by 3 sources

The short version

  • The Sixth Circuit Appeals Court halted Christa Pike's execution less than an hour before it was scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
  • Pike, convicted in 1996 for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, is the first woman set to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
  • Legal teams argue that previous federal rulings were compromised by the state's contradictory stance on Pike's history of childhood sexual abuse.

The execution of Christa Pike, a 50-year-old inmate in Tennessee, was halted just over an hour before it was scheduled to take place on Wednesday. The pause came after judges from the Sixth Circuit Appeals Court issued a ruling stating they required additional time to consider arguments presented in Pike’s case. It remains unclear how long this stay of execution will last, as the court has not specified a timeline for its continued review.

Pike has been awaiting execution since her conviction and sentencing in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer. If the execution had proceeded, Pike would have become the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than two centuries. The case has drawn significant attention due to this historical distinction, with reports noting that Tennessee is set to execute a woman for the first time in 200 years.

News Journal

The immediate cause of the halt stems from an appeal distinct from the one recently denied by the Supreme Court. While the Supreme Court refused to hear Pike’s broader appeals and the Tennessee governor declined her request for clemency earlier in the week, this latest intervention focuses on specific procedural and evidentiary issues raised by her legal team.

Central to the new arguments is a contradiction in the state’s position regarding Pike’s history of childhood trauma. For years, Tennessee authorities argued in court that Pike had lied about being sexually abused as a child. However, during a recent hearing concerning her execution method, the State indicated it did not dispute that she suffered sexual abuse and rape. Her lawyers contended that if federal courts based previous rulings on the state’s earlier claim that she was lying, those reviews were fundamentally affected.

Pike’s legal team asked the appeals court to remand her motion to the district court, arguing that this inconsistency undermined the integrity of prior federal reviews. They emphasized that the state’s shifting narrative regarding her abuse history necessitates a fresh look at the case, particularly concerning how these factors might influence sentencing and eligibility for clemency.

Additionally, Pike’s attorneys challenged Tennessee’s lethal injection method, asserting it could cause suffering beyond what is necessary to carry out the death sentence. They argued that such excessive suffering violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The lawyers claimed that Tennessee’s procedures had denied Pike a fair opportunity to prove that the method posed an undue risk of pain.

Tennessee’s Attorney General responded to the stay by stating that the state would continue to advocate for the lawfully imposed sentence as courts work through what they described as a technical issue. The office noted that it is common in capital cases for defense teams to raise last-minute objections after decades of litigation across numerous courts. They have asked the Supreme Court of the United States to lift the stay.

The underlying crime occurred in 1995 when Pike, then 18, and her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp beat, tortured, and murdered 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. The two had met Slemmer at a job training camp for troubled teens. The murder sparked a media frenzy in Knoxville after Slemmer was found with a pentagram carved into her chest, a symbol associated with satanic groups. Pike has denied carving the pentagram herself.

Witnesses from the camp later testified that Pike bragged about the murder before and after the event and showed them a piece of Slemmer’s skull. Pike had accused Slemmer of insulting her and attempting to steal her boyfriend. A year after the crime, Pike was sentenced to death, while Shipp, who was 17 at the time, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

Pike has a documented history of childhood sexual abuse, abandonment, and neglect. Her lawyers argue that if she were tried today for the same crime as a teenager, she would not receive the death penalty due to evolving standards regarding juvenile offenders and trauma-informed sentencing. The unresolved question remains whether the federal courts will grant a permanent stay or allow the execution to proceed after further review.

Sources behind this briefing

Go to the original reporting

  • BBC World↗Execution of US murderer Christa Pike halted shortly before it was due to happen
  • AP News↗Tennessee is set to execute a woman for the first time in 200 years
  • The New York Times↗Court Pauses Execution of Tennessee’s Lone Woman on Death Row