Tennessee prepares to carry out first female execution in over two centuries

The state of Tennessee is preparing to put Christa Pike to death, marking the first execution of a woman in the state since the early 19th century. Pike was sentenced to death for a homicide she participated in at age 18, a crime prosecutors described as brutally motivated by jealousy. Her supporters point to a childhood marked by sexual and physical abuse, neglect, and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, arguing that these factors impaired her judgment.

They also criticize her attorney for not presenting mitigating evidence about her traumatic background, fearing it could have backfired. Despite multiple legal challenges citing her mental-health condition and the risk of severe suffering during lethal injection, the execution date remains unchanged. Pike's case is unusual both statewide and nationally, where women constitute a tiny fraction of those executed, and it revives broader debates over the ethics and application of the death penalty.