Tennessee Prepares to Execute Christa Pike as Clemency Hopes Fade
Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, faces lethal injection on September 30 for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Her attorneys argue that her history of severe childhood sexual abuse and untreated mental illness makes the execution cruel and unusual, while the state maintains that justice requires the sentence to proceed. The Tennessee Supreme Court recently denied a stay, leaving Governor Bill Lee’s clemency decision as the final potential barrier before the execution.
