There was about an hour left before Christa Pike’s execution in Tennessee when a federal appeals court stayed it on September 30, 2026.
If it had gone ahead, it would have been the first execution of a woman in the state in at least 200 years. Pike had spent nearly three decades on death row since she was convicted of the crime.
The judges want to review whether Pike’s allegations of childhood sexual abuse were fully considered before she was sentenced to death. Her defense has also presented new arguments to try to halt the execution and review the circumstances surrounding her conviction.
She was 18 when she was convicted of the 1995 murder of her 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer. The case took place while both were studying at a job training center in Tennessee, and Pike was found guilty the following year. The execution remains on hold while the court reviews the case and determines whether the new allegations could affect the sentence.
