Tennessee Court Denies Pike Stay, Execution Set

The Tennessee Supreme Court declined to halt Christa Pike’s scheduled Sept. 30 execution, rejecting her challenge to the state’s lethal-injection protocol; her lawyers plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and continue seeking clemency from Gov. Bill Lee. The state has agreed to several accommodations related to Pike’s trauma, including efforts to use female staff for observation and allowing access to a spiritual adviser. Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, committed when Pike was 18; her teenage co-defendant Tadaryl Shipp received life in prison, while Shadolla Peterson received probation. Separately, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found violations involving Pike’s legal representation, prolonged death-row confinement and other rights, concluding that her trial defense failed to present important mitigating evidence about her history and mental health.