Tennessee To Execute Christa Pike

What happened

Tennessee is scheduled to execute Christa Gail Pike by lethal injection Wednesday morning, making her the state’s first woman executed in more than 200 years. Pike was convicted of murdering classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995, after prosecutors said Pike lured her away and killed her at 18. Prosecutors also said a pentagram was carved on Slemmer’s body, feeding “satanic panic” fears around the case. Her lawyers cite mental illness and severe childhood abuse, while supporters point to vacated Tennessee death sentences for other 18-year-olds. Gov. Bill Lee denied clemency, and Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, wants the sentence enforced. Pike has asked the Supreme Court to stop the execution and challenge lethal injection procedures.

How each side covered it

From the left

Left-leaning outlets we track didn't cover this story.

From the right

Right-leaning accounts cast the execution as a rare state milestone, setting that frame before Pike’s clemency arguments. The New York Post lingered on the brutality of the crime, saying Pike lured, tortured and killed a teenage classmate. Newsmax presented Pike’s plea through her lawyers’ claims of sexual abuse, neglect and untreated mental illness.