US execution of Tennessee inmate Christa Pike halted hours before scheduled date

The execution of Tennessee inmate Christa Pike was halted just over an hour before it was due to take place.

Pike, 50, has been on death row since her 1996 conviction for the murder of 19‑year‑old Colleen Slemmer. On Wednesday, judges of the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that more time was needed to consider arguments in her case, leaving the length of the pause unclear.

The stay follows a Supreme Court refusal to grant a reprieve and a decision by the Tennessee governor earlier in the week to deny Pike’s clemency request. Her lawyers contend that the state previously claimed she had lied about childhood sexual abuse, but at a recent hearing the state acknowledged she had indeed suffered abuse.

Pike’s legal team asked the appeals court to return her motion to the district court, arguing that reliance on the state’s earlier claim could have tainted the federal review. The appeal that resulted in the stay is separate from the Supreme Court challenge to Tennessee’s lethal‑injection protocol, which her lawyers say could cause unconstitutional suffering.

Tennessee’s Attorney General said the state will continue to pursue the lawfully imposed sentence while the courts address the technical issue, and urged the US Supreme Court to lift the stay.

Source: BBC News. Photo: RDNE Stock project / Pexels.