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The Economic Times
The Economic Times
National

Christa Pike execution halted at last minute: Why her 1995 murder case is raising questions about death sentences for 18-year-olds

An appeals court in the US federal system has temporarily stopped the execution of Christa Gail Pike from Tennessee, who was supposed to be executed by lethal injection, in a fresh legal battle regarding her age and childhood abuse when she was sentenced to death. Christa Gail Pike, who is 50 years old now, was only 18 years old at the time of her participation in the murder of another teenage girl named 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, in 1995, who was also her fellow student in a Job Corps training centre located in Knoxville.

The recent ruling does not reverse the death sentence of Ms Pike.

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