US Supreme Court denies Christa Pike's last-minute bid as her final letter ahead of execution is shared
The US Supreme Court a last ditch bid to prevent the execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee.
Pike is scheduled to be killed by lethal injection in Tennessee for the the murder of her classmate, and was originally sentenced to death back in 1996.
Pike was just 18 years old at the time of the killing of classmate Colleen Slemmer in a case which caused a sensation after Colleen was found with a pentagram carved into her chest, with Pike being discovered after keeping a piece of the victim's skull.
Attorneys representing Pike had filed a petition with the court ahead of her execution, which is scheduled to go ahead on 30 September.
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However, this petition has now been denied, meaning that the final barrier to Pike's execution has now been removed.
Tennessee governor Bill Lee had previously denied a request for clemency, which he would have the power to grant.
In a statement, Governor Lee said: "After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike's request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene."
Attorneys representing Pike have drawn attention to the fact that she had been targeted by sexual abuse as a child and was suffering from severe mental health conditions at the time of the crimes, adding that since her incarceration she has been co-operative and shown remorse.
In a statement released after Lee's refusal to grant clemency, attorneys representing Pike released a statement which said: “Throughout her childhood, Christa was failed by people and institutions that should have shown her care and meaningful intervention.
“The 18-year-old girl suffering from severe mental illness and near-debilitating trauma no longer exists. Christa is a 50-year-old remorseful woman who understands her actions, receives proper treatment for her mental illness, and provides for and guides fellow incarcerated women.”
Only 18 women have been executed in the US since the 1970s, where 1,663 men have been executed over the same period.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the last woman to be executed by the state in Tennessee was Martin Eve, who was executed by hanging for being an accessory to murder in 1820.
Pike was 18 years when she and her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17 at the time, murdered 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, with Pike accusing Slemmer of trying to steal her boyfriend.
Shipp did not receive a death sentence for his involvement in the murder due to being 17 years old at the time it was committed.
According to the Tennessee Department of Corrections when Pike was incarcerated she was the youngest person on death row, where she has spent the majority of her life.
Her lawyers have also argued that 'an 18-year-old brain is not an adult brain', and that Pike was also too young to receive the death sentence.
Pike's execution is now scheduled to be carried out at 11:00 EDT, which is 3pm GMT, on 30 September 2026 at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
Kit Roberts