BREAKING UPDATE: Tennessee woman who brutally murdered 19-year-old will be executed after Supreme Court decision

Update: In a 6-3 ruling issued on Wednesday evening, the Supreme Court cleared the way for convicted murderer Christa Pike to be executed, coming after her scheduled execution was halted by an appeals court one hour before its scheduled time. 

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. Writing the dissent, Sotomayor wrote, “Because its decision clears the way for the State to execute Pike before her still-pending legal challenges to her conviction can be properly considered, I respectfully dissent.”

She later added, “The Court’s decision to vacate that stay interferes with the Sixth Circuit’s routine administrative handling of a capital case and unnecessarily prevents that court from giving due consideration to Pike’s claim. Worse, the Court grants such extraordinary relief solely to allow the State to execute Pike before litigation over her conviction has properly run its course in the lower courts. I see no reason to short-circuit the ordinary process of appellate review, particularly in light of the grave consequences of an erroneous decision.”

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued the stay of execution at 9 am central time. Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch agreed to weigh whether the childhood sexual abuse Pike suffered had been taken into account when she was sentenced, per the Daily Mail.

Pike was convicted in March of 1996 at the age of 18 for brutally stabbing and beating to death Colleen Slemmer, a student in the Knoxville Job Corps. Pike, her boyfriend, Tagaryl Shipp, and an accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, lured Slemmer to a wooded area before she was tortured to death. Pike believed the girl to be a rival for Shipp's affection.

The couple carved a pentagram into Slemmer’s chest, and Peterson testified that she saw Pike carve something into Slemmer’s head, police said. Slemmer attempted to run but was captured by the couple, who then tortured the 19-year-old to death. Pike estimated that the torture lasted between 30 minutes to an hour. Investigators said that Pike had kept a piece of Slemmer’s skull as a souvenir. 

Pike and Shipp were found guilty of first-degree murder. Pike received the death sentence, while Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole. Peterson, who served as a lookout, was granted probation in exchange for cooperation. 

Pike’s execution by lethal injection had been scheduled for 10 am Central Time. She had refused her last meal. She had requested that she be spared lethal injection because of her Buddhist beliefs. Earlier in September, she asked for an all-female firing squad to carry out her execution, with her attorneys citing the childhood abuse Pike experienced. 

Leading up to her scheduled execution, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee denied her clemency request, and the US Supreme Court refused to step in.