Death row killer Christa Pike refused final meal before scheduled execution was halted

In a shocking update, US murderer Christa Pike’s execution was halted today just one hour before it was due to happen.

The 50-year-old has been on death row for more than three decades since she was convicted in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, aged 18.

Pike was due to receive a lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Wednesday (30 September).

However, the news broke at 9am local time that her execution had been stayed by the US Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit following further review.

As reported by PA Media, it has since emerged that judges want to review whether her allegations of sexual abuse and rape as a child were fully considered before she was sentenced to death.

Her death would have made her the first woman to be executed by the state of Tennessee in over 200 years, and she is the only woman currently serving a sentence on the state’s death row.

Christa Pike's execution was halted just one hour before it was due to take place (Tennessee Department of Corrections)

Today’s unexpected, last-minute update came after Pike refused to select her last meal on Tuesday (29 September), as reported by WHJL11.

For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, death row inmates are allowed to request a customized final meal on the day of their execution.

However, the outlet reported that, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction, Pike refused to select one.

The Court of Appeal's last-minute decision was discussed in a statement shared by Pike's attorney via the PR firm Hall Strategies.

As per WKRN, it read: "The court has stayed this, recognizing the serious concerns about Christa’s scheduled execution.”

While a spokesperson for the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General said: "We will continue to advocate for the lawfully imposed sentence as the courts work through this technical issue.

“It is common in capital cases for the defence to raise last-minute objections following decades of litigation in numerous courts.

"We are asking the Supreme Court of the United States to lift the stay."

Pike murdered Colleen Slemmer in 1995 (First Coast News/ABC)

It follows a number of appeals from Pike’s legal team, who filed a clemency petition earlier this month, requesting that her death sentence be commuted to life in prison and claiming that her history of childhood abuse, trauma and mental illness was not properly presented when she was sentenced to death.

In 1996, Pike reportedly thought fellow Jobs Corp student Slemmer, 19, was trying to steal her then-boyfriend, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp.

Slemmer was stabbed and beaten by Pike and Shipp, with the violent crime taking place in a remote area of the University of Tennessee’s Agricultural campus.

Pike, Shipp, and their friend Shadolla Peterson asked Slemmer to meet them in the woodland, who tragically had no idea she was being lured to her death.

Peterson acted as a lookout while Slemmer was stabbed and bludgeoned for 30 minutes, and a pentagram was carved in her chest.

Shipp, who'd assisted in murdering Slemmer, was given life with the possibility of parole, as he was 17, while Peterson pleaded guilty to being an accessory, testified against Pike and Shipp, and received six years' probation.