US appeals court pauses Tennessee execution of Christa Pike

A US appeals court has halted the scheduled execution of death-row inmate Christa Pike in Tennessee, less than two hours before she was due to be put to death. The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a short stay to consider Pike’s claim that allegations of childhood sexual abuse were not adequately addressed during her sentencing. The court did not specify how long its review would take.

Tennessee’s attorney general immediately asked the US Supreme Court to overturn the stay. Governor Bill Lee had previously rejected Pike’s clemency petition, which cited childhood trauma and abuse. The Supreme Court had also rejected an earlier request for a stay on Tuesday.

Pike, now 50, was 18 when she and her 17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, lured 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer into a wooded area in January 1995. Pike and Shipp were convicted of first-degree murder the following year. Pike received a death sentence, while Shipp was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.

A third defendant, Shadolla Peterson, acted as a lookout, testified for the prosecution and received probation. Pike was later convicted of attempted first-degree murder in an assault on another inmate. Her lawyers’ 226-page clemency petition described violence, neglect and sexual abuse during her childhood.

They also cited prison diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as evidence concerning her mother’s heavy drinking during pregnancy. Pike’s lawyers said she was now a remorseful 50-year-old receiving treatment and helping other incarcerated women. Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, has supported the execution.

If carried out, Pike’s execution would have been Tennessee’s first of a woman in more than 200 years. Women have accounted for 18 of the 1,683 US executions since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre.