Tennessee is set to execute Christa Pike on Wednesday, September 30, after Governor Bill Lee denied her clemency appeal.
Pike, now 50, received a death sentence for killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer at Knoxville Job Corps in 1995. Pike was 18 when she committed the murder, according to court records and reports.
The execution would mark Tennessee’s first execution of a woman in about 200 years. Pike became the youngest woman in the United States to receive a death sentence when a court sentenced her in March 1996.
Pike Says She Is At Peace
A letter reportedly written by Pike surfaced in the media shortly before she learned that Lee had rejected her clemency request. In the letter, Pike said she had made peace with the possibility of her execution.
Pike’s attorneys have also asked the US Supreme Court to halt the execution. They cited her reported struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and argued that the lethal injection process could cause severe psychological distress.
Attorneys Seek All-Female Execution Team
Pike has reportedly requested an all-female team to carry out the lethal injection. Her lawyers argued that involving men in the execution could worsen her psychological trauma.
Tennessee corrections officials have said they would consider some of Pike’s requests, including her request for an all-female execution team. Meanwhile, Pike submitted a 226-page clemency petition in September seeking to stop her execution.
The case has drawn renewed attention as her scheduled execution approaches, with her attorneys continuing legal efforts to delay the punishment.
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