The U.S. Supreme Court has lifted a temporary federal court stay that paused the scheduled execution of Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike.
The U.S. Supreme Court has lifted a temporary federal court stay that paused the scheduled execution of Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike. This allows Pike's execution to move forward.
The high court’s action Wednesday granted Tennessee’s emergency request to vacate the stay issued by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling removes that particular legal barrier to Pike’s execution, which had been scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
The Supreme Court’s brief majority order did not explain its reasoning or decide the merits of Pike’s underlying legal claim. It also did not state whether Pike’s execution was ultimately carried out or provide a new execution date or time.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The dissent argued the 6th Circuit should have been allowed to complete its review before an irreversible execution took place.
Earlier Wednesday, a divided 6th Circuit panel issued what it called a short stay of execution at 8:17 a.m. CDT, less than two hours before Pike’s scheduled execution.
The appeals court said it needed time to consider a procedural question involving Pike’s request to reopen her earlier federal habeas case. The order did not overturn Pike’s conviction or death sentence.
Pike’s attorneys argue Tennessee’s recent acknowledgment that she suffered severe childhood sexual abuse and rape undermines the foundation of earlier court proceedings.
During an August hearing in a separate challenge, a state attorney said Tennessee did not dispute the “terrible things” Pike had suffered and did not intend to minimize her trauma.
Pike’s attorneys contend earlier courts treated her abuse history differently while considering her claim that trial lawyers failed to adequately investigate and present mitigating evidence during the sentencing phase.
The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office told FOX 17 News:
"We will continue to advocate for the lawfully-imposed sentence as the courts work through this technical issue. It is common in capital cases for the defense to raise last-minute objections following decades of litigation in numerous courts. We are asking the Supreme Court of the United States to lift the stay."
Pike had asked the 6th Circuit to allow her to reopen her 2016 federal habeas case under Rule 60(b)(6), a rule that can permit a court to revisit a final judgment in extraordinary circumstances.
A federal district court transferred that request to the 6th Circuit, finding it should be treated as a second or successive habeas petition. Pike challenged that conclusion, and the 6th Circuit’s temporary stay was meant to allow the court to examine the issue.
RELATED COVERAGE | Christa Pike could have taken a plea deal to live. Why was she told not to?
Tennessee granted a temporary stay of execution for Christa Pike on Wednesday, Sept.30, 2026, the day of her scheduled execution for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, pictured here. (Photo: SBG)The Supreme Court had already denied Pike’s separate request to stop the execution based on challenges to Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol and the process for litigating those claims.
Pike, now 50, and her boyfriend were convicted of stabbing and beating 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville reportedly over jealousy involving the boyfriend.
The couple lured Slemmer into a wooded area, cut her with a box cutter, cutting a pentagram on her body, beat her with a large chunk of asphalt and carved out a piece of her skull. Pike had reportedly bragged about the ordeal.
Pike was sentenced to death while her boyfriend was sentenced to life in prison. Pike's attorney wants her age at the time to be considered, but others want justice.
Pike’s case has drawn national attention, including debate over capital punishment, her age at the time of the crime, and the role her childhood trauma should play in evaluating her sentence.
To view the court documents in its entirety, see below:
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