In the news for Tennessee death-penalty case developments surrounding a 2020 execution stay, highlighting debates over capital punishment and due process.
Christa Pike has been sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Tennessees governor has denied clemency; Pike awaits execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Reports note Pike has requested an all-female firing squad, citing fear of lethal injection; this upends long-running death-penalty debates and highlights youth at offense.
Christa Pike, 50, has had her scheduled execution in Tennessee stayed by a federal appeals court while judges review her claim that childhood sexual abuse and later trauma were not weighed at sentencing. The stay came just before a midnight deadline and follows Pike's murder of Colleen Slemmer in 1995. Supporters say mental illness and abuse justify reconsideration; opponents urge swift carry-out of the sentence.