The United States Supreme Court refused to stay the execution of Tennessee inmate Christa Pike on the eve of her scheduled lethal‑injection death, making her the first woman to be put to death in the state in more than 200 years.
Pike, 50, has waited for a scheduled execution since her 1996 conviction for the brutal murder of 19‑year‑old Colleen Slemmer, a teenager she met at a job‑training camp for troubled youth.
Seeking a last‑minute reprieve, Pike’s attorneys filed a petition with the Supreme Court ahead of the execution set for Wednesday morning, but the court denied the request.
The decision follows Governor Bill Lee’s earlier refusal to grant clemency, affirming the state’s commitment to carry out the sentence.
Pike was 18 when she and her then‑boyfriend beat, tortured and murdered Slemmer, leaving behind a chilling crime scene that sparked national media scrutiny.
Her defense team argued that an 18‑year‑old’s brain was not fully matured and that she should not have been condemned to death, yet courts have held that age alone is insufficient to overturn the sentence.
The execution is scheduled for 11:00 EDT (15:00 GMT) at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, and will be carried out on Wednesday with no legal or public intervention remaining.
