Tennessee is moving toward its first execution of a woman in more than two centuries, and a coalition of advocates is pushing for it to be halted, USA Today reports. Christa Pike, 50, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday for the 1995 torture and killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, a case so brutal it drew global attention. Pike's lawyers, joined by dozens of women's groups and trauma experts, say her execution would violate the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment because the process—being strapped down by guards and injected by a male doctor—will trigger vivid flashbacks to the sexual abuse and rapes Pike endured as a toddler, child, and teenager.
The state concedes her history of sexual violence and PTSD but argues that psychological suffering alone doesn't make an execution unconstitutional and stresses the "ruthlessness" of Slemmer's murder. A special master and the Tennessee Supreme Court have rejected Pike's bid for a stay, noting steps like using female staff where possible. Per WATE, Pike was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder in 2004 after strangling a fellow inmate with a shoestring. WBIR reports she was also diagnosed with serious mental illness after the murder. Her attorneys are now appealing to Gov. Bill Lee and the US Supreme Court, while Slemmer's mother plans to witness the execution, saying it represents long-delayed justice for her daughter.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
