Temporary Execution Stay
Federal appeals court halts Christa Pike execution moments before lethal injection.
Anonymous
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit halted Christa Pike’s scheduled lethal-injection execution in Tennessee about an hour before it was due to begin, ordering a temporary stay while it reviews her legal claims. The court is considering whether allegations of severe childhood sexual abuse and related evidence were adequately presented in proceedings that led to her death sentence. Pike, now 50, was convicted of the 1995 torture and killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, committed when Pike was 18; she would have been Tennessee’s first woman executed in more than 200 years. The stay came after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene and Gov. Bill Lee denied clemency; it remains unclear how long the delay will last or whether state officials will challenge it.
Key Points
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The legal dispute centers partly on whether Pike’s latest filing qualifies as a motion to reopen earlier proceedings or as a new habeas petition—a distinction that could determine whether the court revisits her original claim that evidence of sexual abuse would have affected her death sentence.
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Death Penalty Policy Project director Rob Dunham said prosecutors were expected to ask the Supreme Court to lift the stay.
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Pike’s lawyers also challenged the execution on religious grounds, citing her Buddhist beliefs; earlier in September, she asked for an all-female firing squad. She refused her last meal before the scheduled execution, though the state still provided her with a meal.
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A third participant, Shadolla Peterson, acted as a lookout during the attack and received probation in exchange for cooperating with authorities, according to the report.
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