US Court Halts Execution Of Christa Pike An Hour Before Lethal Injection Over Childhood Abuse Claims | Sahara Reporters

The execution had been scheduled for Wednesday morning, with witnesses already gathered at the prison when the federal appeals court issued its order at about 9 a.m. local time.

A federal appeals court halted the execution of Christa Gail Pike in Tennessee on Wednesday, about an hour before she was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

According to the Associated Press, the court ordered a review of whether Pike’s claims of severe sexual abuse and rape during her childhood were adequately considered before she was sentenced to death. The ruling came after previous attempts to stop the execution were rejected by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Pike, 50, was convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at a Knoxville Job Corps programme. She was 18 when the killing occurred and was sentenced to death in 1996.

The execution had been scheduled for Wednesday morning, with witnesses already gathered at the prison when the federal appeals court issued its order at about 9 a.m. local time.

It was not immediately clear how long the stay would remain in place or whether Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office would challenge the decision.

Pike’s lawyers have argued that evidence of her childhood abuse, trauma and other mitigating circumstances was not properly presented during the sentencing phase of her trial. Her defence has maintained that the information could have affected the jury’s decision to impose the death penalty.

The case dates back to January 1995, when Pike and two other teenagers were involved in Slemmer’s killing. Pike was the only one sentenced to death. Her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, was 17 at the time and received a life sentence, while Shadolla Peterson, who testified against Pike and Shipp, received probation.

If carried out, Pike’s execution would have been Tennessee’s first execution of a woman in more than 200 years. She is the only woman currently on the state’s death row.

The federal appeals court’s intervention leaves Pike’s case subject to further legal review, with no immediate new execution date announced.