Christa Pike Execution Abruptly Halted to Review Child Abuse Claims Moments Before Tennessee's First Death Penalty in 200 Years

Christa Pike's scheduled execution in Tennessee was thrown into uncertainty Wednesday morning as a last-minute legal development unfolded at the prison.

The 50-year-old death row inmate was just moments away from becoming the first woman executed by the state in at least 200 years.

A federal appeals court halted Pike's execution roughly an hour before it was scheduled to begin, per the New York Post.

The court ordered a review of whether her allegations of childhood sexual abuse and rape were fully considered before she was sentenced to death.

Execution witnesses were already at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville when the execution was stopped around 9 a.m. CDT.

It's not clear whether Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti will challenge the ruling or how long the execution could be delayed.

In 1995, when Pike was 18, she was convicted of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.

In January 1995, Pike, her boyfriend at the time, Tadaryl Shipp, and her friend Shadolla Peterson took 19-year-old Slemmer, a fellow Knoxville Job Corps student, to an isolated area of the University of Tennessee's agricultural campus.

Slemmer was beaten and stabbed to death. A pentagram was also carved into her chest.

Pike was convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to death in March 1996.

Shipp, who was 17 and therefore too young to receive a death sentence, was given life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Peterson pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and received six years of probation.

Ahead of her scheduled execution, Pike also discussed Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of killing her three children.

In September, Clancy's murder trial ended in a mistrial after jurors could not reach a unanimous decision.

"I feel a kinship with Lindsay," Pike told The Times. "We are both females who got into trouble because of uniquely female issues."

"One thing is different, however, is that times have changed a lot on awareness of women's issues since I was put on trial," she shared.

Pike added, "I am pleased she received a mistrial and is getting the help she needs. There are so many women who don't get the help they need: me and others."

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced that he wouldn't grant Pike clemency.

"After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike's request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene," Lee said in a statement on September 28, per NewsChannel5.

In a letter to NBC News written before Lee's clemency announcement, Pike wrote, "Whether my clemency is granted or not, I am at peace."