Tennessee governor declines to halt execution of state's lone woman on death row

Governor Bill Lee has declined to halt the execution of Christa Gail Pike, the state’s sole woman on death row. "After deliberate information of Christa Gail Pike's petition for clemency, and aft a thorough reappraisal of the case, I americium upholding the condemnation of the State of Tennessee and bash not program to intervene," Governor Lee said successful a statement. Pike’s legal team filed a clemency petition earlier this month, asking that her death sentence be changed to life imprisonment. Her attorneys warned that proceeding with the execution would place Tennessee "on singular footing," noting that Pike would be the first person the state "executes in the modern death penalty epoch who was a teen at the time of the offence." Attorneys Stephen Ferrell, Kelly Gleason and Randy Spivey said the governor's determination "leaves unanswered captious questions astir Tennessee's execution protocol". "With this decision, the State of Tennessee is ignoring what some subject and our ineligible strategy person decided: an 18-year-old encephalon is not an big brain, and 18 is excessively young to look execution," they said successful a connection connected Monday. The 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer sparked a media frenzy in Knoxville after the 19‑year‑old was discovered with a pentagram—a symbol associated with Satanic ritual—carved into her chest. Pike alleged that Slemmer had insulted her and attempted to interfere with her relationship. Two other camp residents testified that Pike had bragged about the killing before and after the act and displayed a fragment of Slemmer’s skull. A year later, Pike was convicted of first‑degree murder and sentenced to death, while her then‑boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17 at the time, received a life sentence with parole eligibility. At the moment of her incarceration, the 21‑year‑old was the youngest individual on Tennessee’s death row, according to the Department of Corrections. Pike is set to be executed on 30 September following years of unsuccessful appeals. Colleen’s parent has maintained that she wants the execution to move forward so that her daughter "finally can be resting".