What This Story Is About
A U.S. appeals court judge issued a stay on the execution of Christa Pike, just one hour before she was set to die by lethal injection for the 1995 murder of her classmate in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Why It Matters
Pike was set to become the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. Her attorneys have made multiple attempts at clemency, seeking to commute her death sentence to life in prison without parole.
What Happens Next
The Tennessee attorney general appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States to lift the stay on Pike’s execution.
For Context
Pike was set to be executed by the state of Tennessee for killing her Job Corps colleague Colleen Slemmer in 1995. Pike was 18 years old at the time.
Catch Up
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ordered a stay of the execution of Christa Gail Pike on Wednesday morning.
The order comes just one hour before Pike is set to be executed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ordered a stay of the execution of Christa Gail Pike on Wednesday morning.(WSMV)
According to the order, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee decided that it did not have the jurisdiction to reopen the case against Christa Pike, denying her habeas relief. The Eastern District of Tennessee Court then transferred the case to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Habeas relief allows a person to challenge the legality of their detention or imprisonment by the government.
Judge Jane Stranch ruled on Wednesday morning that Pike’s request for habeas relief requires attention and decided that a stay of her execution was necessary.
“Therefore, it is ORDERED that execution of the sentence of death upon the movant is STAYED until further order of this court,” Judge Stranch wrote. “The Clerk shall give immediate notice to all parties”
The full order can be viewed below:
Christa Pike execution stayed(WSMV)
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and encompasses Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is working on appealing the stay order and is requesting that the high court step in:
“We will continue to advocate for the lawfully imposed sentence as the courts work through this technical issue. It is common in capital cases for the defense to raise last-minute objections following decades of litigation in numerous courts. We are asking the Supreme Court of the United States to lift the stay.”
Pike was set to be executed by the state of Tennessee for killing her Job Corps colleague Colleen Slemmer in 1995. Pike was 18 years old at the time.
Christa Pike(WSMV)
Prosecutors say Pike and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, tortured Slemmer, including cutting a pentagram into her body, before Pike threw a chunk of asphalt at Slemmer’s head, killing her. Prosecutors say the motive was that Pike believed Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend.
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, has waited decades for Pike’s sentence to be carried out. She told a sister station in Knoxville about her daughter’s love of computers, roller skating and running marathons.
Slemmer was killed in 1995 by Christa Pike and Tadaryl Shipp(May Martinez)
Pike’s attorneys have made multiple attempts to get her execution commuted, pointing to her abusive childhood and the trauma it caused as reasoning behind her “horrific actions.” They also claim that Pike has reformed herself and become a different person while incarcerated.
Pike is not the first woman ever executed in Tennessee, but she would be the first in the modern death penalty era.
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