{"id":2673369,"date":"2026-09-30T18:13:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T22:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-saves-tennessee-woman-convicted-of-horrific-crime-minutes-before-execution\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T18:16:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T22:16:29","slug":"court-saves-tennessee-woman-convicted-of-horrific-crime-minutes-before-execution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-saves-tennessee-woman-convicted-of-horrific-crime-minutes-before-execution\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Saves Tennessee Woman Convicted of Horrific Crime Minutes Before Execution"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-saves-tennessee-woman-convicted-of-horrific-crime-minutes-before-execution%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2673369&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/christa-pikes-tennessee-execution-halted-by-court\/\" title=\"...&#039;s Tennessee ... halted by ...\">federal appeals court temporarily halted<\/a> the planned execution of Christa Pike, a woman convicted of a satanic ritualistic murder in 1995, just an hour before it was scheduled.The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay to review claims from PikeS legal team, who argue she should have the opportunity to reopen her case due to childhood sexual abuse. pike, now 50, was 18 when she murdered fellow student colleen Slemmer, and she participated with her accomplices in a brutal attack, taking a skull as a trophy. Pike has expressed peace with her fate regardless of the outcome and has spoken about feeling a kinship with another woman who committed familial harm. Tennessee&#8217;s Attorney General promptly appealed the stay to the US supreme Court. The case has elicited mixed reactions-while Pike&#8217;s mother insists she deserves execution, others acknowledge her mental health struggles at the time of the crime. Pike&#8217;s attorneys highlight ongoing legal and mental health issues that they believe warrant further examination before any execution proceeds.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A federal appeals court stepped in Wednesday and prevented the state of Tennessee from executing a woman who was convicted of a satanic ritualistic killing in 1995.<\/p>\n<p>The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a stay of execution for Christa Pike by a vote of 2-1, just an hour before she was scheduled to be killed, the Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/christa-pike-execution-tennessee-f826a60582083b90ac7695ecb16afbdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Pike, now 50, was 18 years old when she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/woman-death-row-satanic-murder-says-feels-kinship-lindsay-clancy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stabbed<\/a> and beat fellow student Colleen Slemmer to death. She then took part of her skull as a trophy.<\/p>\n<p>Pike worked with her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and friend Shadolla Peterson to lead Slemmer into a remote area so she could kill her.<\/p>\n<p>Shipp admitted carving a pentagram on Slemmer\u2019s chest, the AP reported.<\/p>\n<p>Pike received the death penalty, while Shipp got life without parole and Peterson received six years\u2019 probation after pleading guilty as an accessory.<\/p>\n<p>The court said it needs to examine assertions from Pike\u2019s legal team about her being able to reopen court proceedings due to sexual abuse she suffered as a minor, NBC News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/ahead-rare-execution-lone-woman-tennessee-death-row-says-peace-rcna600279\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe interests of justice and the finality of Pike\u2019s impending execution compel the entry of a short stay of execution in order to properly analyze the parties\u2019 fully briefed arguments and resolve the issues on the merits,\u201d the court declared.<\/p>\n<p>When Pike learned that GOP Gov. Bill Lee would not grant her clemency, she wrote a letter to NBC News, d by her \u201cspiritual adviser.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether my clemency is granted or not, I am at peace,\u201d she wrote.\u00a0\u201cI am not afraid to die. I\u2019m only nervous about the process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike was also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/us\/news-today\/article\/christa-pike-lindsay-clancy-execution-tennessee-death-row-czgcxssf7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">quoted<\/a> by the United Kingdom newspaper The Times earlier this month as saying she felt a \u201ckinship\u201d with Lindsay Clancy, who killed her three children.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel a kinship with Lindsay. We are both females who got into trouble because of uniquely female issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne thing is different, however, is that times have changed a lot on awareness of women\u2019s issues since I was put on trial,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>Pike\u2019s attorneys conducted the interview with her on behalf of The Times.<\/p>\n<p>Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed an immediate appeal of the 6th Circuit ruling to the United States Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>Pike also claimed she was mentally ill when she committed the crime and didn\u2019t know what she was doing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid. It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I\u2019d done,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cEven more to accept how many lives I affected. I took the life of someone\u2019s child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tennessee has not executed a female for at least 200 years, but Slemmer\u2019s mother May Martinez maintained that Pike deserves a lethal injection for what she did to her daughter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery time I think about it, I think about Colleen feeling that pain and trying to get up and run,\u201d Martinez explained.<\/p>\n<p>She also said a group helped raise money so that she and her husband could be present for the execution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot a day goes by, or a minute goes by that I do not think about Colleen. Holidays are the worst,\u201d Martinez lamented, adding that her daughter would have turned 51 this month.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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