What to know about Christa Pike, first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years

Key Points:

• Tennessee plans to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection on Wednesday, potentially making her the first woman executed in the state in 200 years and the only woman currently on its death row.
• Pike, 50, was convicted in 1996 for the brutal 1995 murder of her former classmate Colleen Slemmer, a crime involving torture and mutilation that drew intense media attention and public outrage.
• Her case has sparked international concern, including from the United Nations, due to her history of childhood abuse, untreated mental illness, and prolonged isolation on death row, all of which were not fully considered at her trial.
• Despite these appeals and clemency petitions highlighting her rehabilitation and changed circumstances, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee denied clemency, allowing the execution to proceed.
• Pike’s case also raises broader debates about sentencing juveniles and young adults to death, as she was 18 at the time of the crime, and evolving legal and societal views on capital punishment for youthful offenders and those with mental health issues.