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3 clusters · 5 sources · 23 days · First seen · Last updated

Tennessee death penalty challenge for Christa Pike

Overview

Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, is scheduled to be executed on September 30. If the execution proceeds, she will be the first woman executed in the state in over 200 years.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer. Following the attack, Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder; court records noted she kept a fragment of the victim’s skull as a “souvenir”.

Her legal team has launched constitutional challenges regarding the state’s lethal injection protocol, citing Pike’s PTSD and a blood-clotting disorder. They proposed alternative methods, such as hanging or the immediate use of a central line, but Special Master W. Mark Ward denied an emergency motion to reopen hearings. Ward ruled the defense failed to prove these alternatives would prevent “substantial risk of pain or needless suffering.” The court also rejected challenges regarding the competency of a Tennessee Department of Correction physician.

In an effort to prevent the execution, Pike’s attorneys have submitted a plea for clemency to Governor Bill Lee, requesting her sentence be commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The defense argues that Pike’s traumatic upbringing should be considered in this decision.

Entities

Christa Pike · W. Mark Ward · Tennessee · Knox County · Bill Lee

Timeline

  1. 8 days ago

    [CRIME] 2 sources
    Christa Pike scheduled for Tennessee execution

    Christa Pike faces execution in Tennessee on September 30 for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Her lawyers have requested clemency, seeking a life sentence instead of the death penalty.

  2. 21 days ago

    [CRIME] 3 sources
    Christa Pike execution challenge denied by special master

    A special master denied an emergency motion to reopen hearings for Christa Pike, Tennessee's only female death row inmate, ahead of her scheduled September 30 execution.

  3. about 1 month ago

    [CRIME] 2 sources
    Tennessee court holds hearing on Christa Pike’s death penalty challenge

    A Tennessee court is holding hearings to determine if the state’s lethal injection protocol is constitutional for Christa Pike’s scheduled September execution.

Sources

aplausin.cz · freerepublic.com · giynikgazetesi.com · ladbible.com · wpln.org

This summary has been updated 1 time: see revision history