%20New%20Logo_4.jpg){kind=small}
Tennessee set to execute first woman in 200 years
Pike, now 50, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Wednesday, Sept. 30, at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. She was 18 when she was convicted of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at Knoxville Job Corps, in 1995.
The execution is scheduled for 10 a.m. CDT, but Pike's legal team is still asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution.
Governor Denies Clemency
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee denied Pike's request for clemency on Sept. 28, saying that after reviewing the case, he would uphold the state's sentence and did not plan to intervene.
That decision left the Supreme Court as the immediate focus of Pike's legal team.
Her attorneys have asked the justices for a stay while they pursue further legal challenges. The Supreme Court docket confirms that Pike's application for a stay was submitted to Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Sept. 25.
Pike Was 18 When Slemmer Was Killed
Pike and her boyfriend at the time, Tadaryl Shipp, were convicted in connection with Slemmer's death.
Prosecutors said Pike believed Slemmer was a romantic rival and that the pair lured her to a secluded area in Knoxville. Slemmer was beaten and stabbed, and a pentagram was carved into her body. The brutality of the killing attracted national attention during the era's "Satanic panic."
Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1996. She has not denied responsibility for Slemmer's killing.
Her Attorneys Point to Her Childhood
Pike's attorneys have argued that circumstances surrounding her childhood and her mental health should be considered when evaluating her death sentence.
They say Pike experienced severe sexual abuse, neglect and trauma beginning when she was a child, along with mental health problems that were not adequately presented to the jury during her original sentencing. Her legal team also argues that she was only 18 when the crime occurred and that scientific understanding of adolescent brain development has changed substantially since the 1990s.
Pike's attorneys have described her as remorseful and said she has undergone significant changes during her decades in prison. Those arguments were included in her clemency request, which Gov. Lee ultimately rejected.
Slemmer's Family Supports the Execution
Colleen Slemmer's family has continued to live with the consequences of her killing for more than three decades.
Slemmer's mother, Jeanne Slemmer Martinez, has spoken publicly about her daughter's death and supports the execution, emphasizing the lasting grief caused by the 1995 killing.
The case has therefore brought opposing perspectives into focus: Pike's attorneys and supporters have emphasized her age, trauma and subsequent rehabilitation, while Slemmer's family has continued to seek accountability for the loss of their daughter.
A Rare Execution of a Woman
If carried out as scheduled, Pike's execution would be Tennessee's first execution of a woman since 1820.
Female executions are also rare nationally. According to the Associated Press, only 18 women have been executed in the United States since the Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in 1976.
Pike would also be the first person Tennessee has executed in the modern death-penalty era for a crime committed while she was a teenager, according to her attorneys.
Supreme Court Could Still Halt the Execution
Pike's case remains active as her scheduled execution approaches.
Her attorneys are asking the Supreme Court to issue a stay while the justices consider her legal claims. The court has not yet granted the requested stay, leaving the execution on the state's schedule for Wednesday morning.
For now, Tennessee is preparing for an execution that would mark a historic first for the state — while Pike's lawyers continue their final effort to prevent it.
Source: NBC News
Comments