'Childhood Abuse Gives You Licence to Kill an Innocent Girl?': Critics Slam Christa Pike Execution Delay

Christa Pike’s execution was halted at the last minute as critics reacted furiously to claims that childhood abuse and mental illness warranted further legal review (Credit: Tennessee Department of Correction)

A last-minute court ruling has stopped Tennessee from carrying out Christa Pike's execution, reigniting fierce debate over whether her history of childhood abuse and mental illness should affect the punishment for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer.

Pike, now 50, was due to receive a lethal injection on Wednesday, 30 September, at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit halted the execution roughly an hour before it was scheduled to take place, giving judges more time to consider arguments raised by her legal team.