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The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the execution of Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike can proceed, overriding a stay issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, and is set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years.
The decision came after the Supreme Court denied Pike's final request to stop the execution. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee also denied Pike's clemency plea on Monday (September 28), stating that he does not plan to intervene after a thorough review. Pike's execution was initially paused by the Sixth Circuit Appeals court to consider arguments about her history of sexual abuse and the fairness of her trial, as reported by BBC News.
Pike's legal team argued that her childhood abuse and mental health issues were not adequately addressed during her trial. They also challenged Tennessee's lethal injection method, claiming it could cause unnecessary suffering, which the Constitution prohibits. Despite these arguments, the Supreme Court vacated the stay, allowing the execution to proceed.
Pike was convicted of torturing and killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995, alongside her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp. The case attracted significant media attention due to the brutal nature of the crime and Pike's age at the time. Shipp, who was 17, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Human rights experts have criticized the decision to continue with the execution, noting the rarity of executing women in the U.S. According to Al Jazeera, Pike had requested to be executed by firing squad instead of lethal injection, citing fears of a painful death. However, Tennessee does not authorize this method.
The execution is scheduled to take place at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Tennessee Lookout reports that the Supreme Court's decision to proceed has been met with dissent from Justices Sonya Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, who argued that the appellate review process should not be bypassed.