Christa Pike was supposed to die by lethal injection this morning, but she now has something she didn’t have when she woke up: more time. A federal appeals court stopped Tennessee’s execution about an hour before it was set to begin. Witnesses were already sitting at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville when the order came down around 9 a.m. Tennessee was about to make history, and then the clock stopped.
If the execution had gone through, it would have been the state’s first execution of a woman in over 200 years. Pike is now 50. She was convicted of a 1995 murder she committed when she was 18, and she is the only woman on Tennessee’s death row.
So what’s the pause for? The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals wants to review whether her claims of childhood sexual abuse and rape were fully considered at her sentencing. In plain English, her lawyers say the jury never heard the whole story about her life. The court froze everything “until further order of this court.”
The judges also said they needed time to look at the arguments carefully instead of rushing. Her lawyer Stephen Ferrell said, “The court has stayed this recognizing the serious concerns about Christa’s scheduled execution.”
Despite this, a lot of doors had already closed on her. Gov. Bill Lee said Monday he would not grant clemency. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down her petition Tuesday evening. Most folks figured that was the end of the road. Then the appeals court flipped the script. The stay is not a pardon or a new sentence. The execution has not been canceled. It is on hold indefinitely while the court keeps reviewing. It’s unclear whether Tennessee’s attorney general will appeal or how long the delay will last.
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Pike was found guilty in 1996 of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow Job Corps member, in Knoxville the year before. Prosecutors said Pike thought Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend, so she lured her to a wooded area. Slemmer’s family has carried that pain for over 30 years. Pike was the only one in the group sentenced to death. Outside the prison, one supporter of Slemmer’s mother called the stay “unfortunate.”
Pike’s supporters see it differently. Before the stay, she wrote a letter saying, “Whether my clemency is granted or not, I am at peace.” Her lawyers say she spent nearly three decades in what amounted to solitary confinement. They also say she was abused and neglected as a child and was dealing with severe mental illness when the crime happened. Her attorneys say Christa has become a thoughtful woman with deep remorse.