The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for the execution of Tennessee inmate Christa Pike, overturning a last-minute reprieve. The killing by lethal injection had been scheduled for earlier on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, but was halted by judges from the Sixth Circuit Appeals court.
Tennessee's attorney general then requested the Supreme Court to overrule the stay. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh granted the application to vacate the stay of execution, though no explanation was provided in the order.
Pike, 50, has been awaiting execution since her conviction and death sentence in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer. If the execution proceeds, she would be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. It was not immediately clear when the execution would take place.