Reason why first woman to be executed in US state for 200 years asked for all-female execution squad
A final request has been made by Christa Pike's team ahead of her scheduled execution as they fight to prevent it from happening.
Pike, 50, has been an inmate on death row for almost three decades after being found guilty of murdering 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995 in Knoxville.
A year after her conviction, Pike, who was 20 when she was found guilty, was handed the death penalty and has remained in prison in Tennessee ever since.
Her legal team have been desperately trying to have her upcoming execution stopped. One of the reasons they have asked for it not to go ahead is because Pike has a condition that would make lethal injection incredibly painful for her.
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This claim that has been backed up by Matt Wells, Deputy Director of Reprieve US, who has said Pike will endure a 'prolonged and agonising death'.
However, Senior Judge Mark Ward has ruled that Pike's condition would not stop medical staff from starting an IV.
Pike's team have also filed for clemency in a petition issued to Gov. Bill Lee, in which they stated that Pike 'respectfully asks Governor Bill Lee to grant her clemency by commuting her sentence to life without the possibility of parole'.
"Christa can still be useful. Her story of growth from a traumatised teenager to a generous, empathetic woman has the power to help others choose a different path. It already has," it adds.
A response from Gov. Lee has not been recorded yet.
If Pike's execution is to go ahead as planned on September 30, she will become the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in 200 years.
Her team have lodged one final request for the execution, requesting that only female corrections staff should be present in the death chamber, according to The Guardian.
This is due to Pike's alleged history of sexual abuse at the hands of men. She is said to be 'terrified' at the idea of men pinning her down on the gurney during execution.
Pike's case is the focus of new documentary Christa Pike's Last Fight to Stop Her Execution, in which she speaks openly about her last days at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution are like.
"I know I said I believed a date would never be set, but now that one has been set, it's like a roulette wheel of thought and your actual brain is the ball bouncing around.
"My nerves are shredded. When I do sleep, my brain eats itself," she says.
"I have the most horrible nightmares, but I think what has been worse is that they told me a year ahead of time. And so, every day I’ve woken up and lived that thought all day, every day, every waking moment."
Danni King