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Tennessee Sets New Execution Dates for Four People, Including Death Row’s Only Woman
As the only woman currently on Tennessee’s death row, she was held in what was essentially solitary confinement until a court settlement in 2024. She would be the first woman killed by the state in more than 200 years.
Execution date set for Christa Pike
According to a court order, Pike, 49, will be executed by September 30, 2026, unless another court order intervenes. If Pike is executed by the state, she would be the first woman executed in Tennessee since 1819. She will also be the first person to be executed who was 18 at the time of the crime in Tennessee since the death penalty was reinstated in 1972.
Christa Pike still on death row but out of 'solitary confinement' after court challenges
Tennessee still plans to execute Christa Pike, the only woman on its death row, but it will afford her more time with other incarcerated women after 27 years of what her attorneys describe as de facto solitary confinement.
Court Settlement Ends Isolation for the Only Woman on Tennessee’s Death Row
“This settlement will be life-changing for Christa Pike,” said Angela Bergman, one of the attorneys who represented Pike in a lawsuit against the state over the conditions of her confinement. “For the last nearly 30 years, Ms. Pike has been subjected to solitary confinement in a cell the size of a parking space, where she has had nearly no meaningful human contact. These conditions have had a devastating impact on her mental and physical health.”
Christa Pike's attorneys request her death sentence be reconsidered due to her youth at the time
“If Christa is executed for a crime she committed as a teenager, it will contradict Tennessee’s deeply held beliefs in the value of human life and redemption, as well as the scientific consensus that youthful brains are not fully formed, especially for young people who experience severe abuse, neglect and trauma.”