In brief
The U.S. Supreme Court voted to deny a final petition filed by death‑row inmate Christa Pike, who has been scheduled for lethal injection in Nashville on Friday. Pike, 50, was convicted in 1996 for the 1995 murder of teenage classmate Colleen Slemmer and was the youngest death‑row offender in Tennessee at the time. Governor Bill Lee had already rejected a clemency request, confirming the sentence would proceed. With the execution set for 11:00 EDT, Pike would be the first woman executed in the state since the early 1800s. The case has intensified debate over capital punishment and the treatment of juvenile offenders.
US Supreme Court denies a final petition by death‑row inmate Christa Pike, who stands to become the state's first woman executed in more than 200 years.
Pike, 50, has awaited a lethal injection since her 1996 conviction for the brutal murder of 19‑year‑old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate who was found dead with a pentagram carved into her chest.
Her attorneys filed a last‑minute request for a stay of execution, arguing that Pike was only 18 at the time of the crime and that her “adolescent brain” should preclude a death sentence.
The Supreme Court’s denial leaves Pike on the docket for 11:00 EDT Wednesday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. It also makes her the first woman to be executed in Tennessee since the early 19th century.
Governor Bill Lee had already refused a clemency plea, stating that he would not intervene in the scheduled execution.
As the state prepares to carry out the execution, the case continues to spur debate over the use of the death penalty and the treatment of young offenders who have committed serious crimes.
Additional reporting from Sareen Habeshian.
Clarification 29 September: The article originally referred to a pentagram as “a symbol of Satanic ritual.” The wording has been amended to specify an inverted pentagram and clarify that such symbols are associated with some satanic groups.
