From BBC News · · 1m 20s
US Supreme Court denies Christa Pike's last-ditch bid to halt execution
US Supreme Court rejects Christa Pike's final attempt to stop her execution.
In brief
US Supreme Court rejects Christa Pike's final attempt to stop her execution. US Supreme Court denied Christa Pike's last-ditch bid to halt her execution, making her the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years. Originally reported by BBC News.
Supreme Court decision
The US Supreme Court has declined to stop the execution of Tennessee inmate Christa Pike on the eve of her scheduled death by lethal injection.
Pike's background
Pike, 50, has been awaiting execution since she was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of a teenage classmate.
Last-minute request
Her attorneys filed a petition with the high court ahead of her scheduled execution on Wednesday morning hoping for a last-minute reprieve.
Historical context
Pike would be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years, with only 18 women executed in the US since the 1970s compared to 1,663 men.
Governor's stance
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee denied a request for clemency from Pike, stating he would not intervene in her planned execution.
Murder details
Pike, 18, and her then-boyfriend beat, tortured and murdered Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old they met at a job training camp for troubled teens.
The one thing
US Supreme Court denied Christa Pike's last-ditch bid to halt her execution, making her the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years.
