Tennessee is set to execute a woman for the first time in more than 200 years on Wednesday, after the United States Supreme Court rejected a last-minute bid to halt it.
asserted
Court → set → it
Christa Pike, 50, who was convicted of torturing and killing a classmate when she was 18, is due to die by lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, but according to a report by The New York Post, she has asked to be shot by an all-female firing squad instead.
uncertain
she → convict → squad
So why does she fear lethal injection, and how does the US put people to death?
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US → fear → death
Here’s what you need to know:
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you → ’ → what
What was Christa Pike convicted of?
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Pike → convict → What
Pike was found guilty of the murder of another young woman she viewed as a romantic rival more than 30 years ago.
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she → find → rival
In January 1995, Pike, her 17-year-old boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and 18-year-old Shadolla Peterson lured Colleen Slemmer, 19, into a wooded area and tortured and killed her.
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Pike → lure → her
The case attracted huge public interest, especially after it was revealed that the attackers had carved a pentagram into Slemmer’s chest, which Shipp later admitted to carving.
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Shipp → attract → which
Pike kept a piece of Slemmer’s skull.
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Pike → keep → skull
Pike and Shipp confessed and were convicted of first-degree murder in 1996.
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Pike → confess → 1996
Pike was sentenced to death; Shipp received life with the possibility of parole.
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Shipp → sentence → parole
“Christa is a 50-year-old remorseful woman who understands her actions,” her lawyers wrote.
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lawyers → understand → actions
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, has spoken in support of the execution.
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mother → speak → execution
Why does Pike not want a lethal injection?
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Pike → want → injection
Her legal team and trauma experts say it could force her to relive abuse she suffered in childhood.
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she → say → childhood
Her clemency petition documents childhood violence, neglect and sexual abuse, including rapes when she was aged 11 and 17.
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she → document → rapes
It also cites her diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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It → cite → disorder
Sexual violence and trauma experts argue that the procedures around lethal injection would likely trigger severe flashbacks of that abuse.
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procedures → argue → abuse
Her legal team also argues that she has small veins and a blood condition that could make it difficult to place an IV line, a claim the state disputes.
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state → argue → line
In May, Tennessee prison officials abandoned the execution of another prisoner, Tony Carruthers, after failing to find a suitable vein.
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officials → abandon → vein
According to The New York Post, Pike’s lawyers said she also fears a painful death by lethal injection.
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she → accord → injection
The paper reported that she wants to be shot by an all-female firing squad, with members of Slemmer’s family among the witnesses.
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she → report → witnesses
Tennessee is not among the five states that authorise the firing squad.
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that → authorise → squad
In court in August, her lawyers proposed hanging instead, noting it was the method Tennessee last used to execute a woman.
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Tennessee → propose → woman
The state opposed that, saying Tennessee has neither the equipment nor the legal authority to carry it out.
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Tennessee → oppose → it
The judge sided with the state but allowed for the possibility of an all-female execution team.
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judge → side → team
Tennessee also allows prisoners whose crimes predate January 1999 to choose the electric chair; Pike’s crime took place in 1995.
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crime → allow → 1995
What do her lawyers argue?
That she should not be executed at all.
Pike’s petition asked the governor to commute her sentence to life without parole.
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petition → argue → parole
It pointed to evidence that her mother drank heavily during pregnancy, impairing Pike’s brain development and her impulse control.
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mother → point → development
“The 18-year-old girl suffering from severe mental illness and near-debilitating trauma no longer exists,” her lawyers wrote.
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lawyers → suffer → illness
She would be the only person to be executed in modern-era Tennessee for a crime committed as a teenager.
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She → execute → teenager
Her lawyer, Stephen Ferrell, said scientists now understand far more about adolescent brain development and that her sentence was an outlier.
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sentence → say → development
Governor Bill Lee has denied clemency, however.
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Lee → deny → clemency
A group of United Nations human rights experts has called for her sentence to be commuted.
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sentence → call → experts
The US almost never executes women.
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US → execute → ?
Women account for 18 of the 1,683 people executed since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976 – just over 1 percent.
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punishment → account → percent
Tennessee has executed just 17 people in that time before Wednesday, with Pike the only woman on its death row.
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Pike → execute → row
If the execution goes ahead, it will be the state’s first execution of a woman since 1820, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
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it → go → Center
What rules do different states have?
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states → have → rules
There are 27 states with the death penalty, although four have placed its use on hold.
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four → be → hold
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
