Key facts
- A federal appeals court has stayed the execution of Christa Pike, scheduled for September 30.
- The stay was granted based on new arguments regarding Pike's traumatic childhood and history of sexual assault.
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued the stay in a 2-1 decision.
- Tennessee's Attorney General's Office is seeking to have the stay lifted by the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Pike was convicted of the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer.
- If executed, Pike would be the first woman put to death in Tennessee in over 200 years.
A federal appeals court has halted the execution of Christa Pike, who was scheduled to be put to death on September 30, just hours before it was to be carried out. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a stay of execution, citing new arguments related to Pike's traumatic childhood, which included years of sexual assaults. The court stated that the interests of justice required a short stay to analyze the parties' arguments.
Pike's execution had been set for 10 a.m. CT on Wednesday, September 30. The Tennessee Attorney General's Office has filed an application with the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate the lower court's stay, arguing that Pike's filings are last-minute objections that have been unsuccessful in previous proceedings and that the stay rewards "abusive delay tactics."
Pike, 50, was convicted of the 1995 murder of her romantic rival, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Prosecutors acknowledged Pike's harrowing childhood but maintain her punishment fits the crime. If executed, Pike would be the first woman put to death in Tennessee in over 200 years and only the third in the U.S. in the past decade. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee had previously declined to intervene in the case.