The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a stay of execution for Christa Pike, 50, on Wednesday morning, shortly before she was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection. Pike has been on death row since 1996 for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at the Knoxville Job Corps. Pike was 18 at the time of the crime, while her accomplice was 17.

The court’s decision to intervene came after Pike’s legal team raised issues regarding her history of sexual abuse and rape. While the Washington Examiner reports that the court intends to review these specific allegations, other outlets focused on the historical context of the case. The Guardian noted that this would have been the first execution of a woman in Tennessee in 200 years, highlighting that both the state governor and the state supreme court had previously denied requests for clemency. The BBC provided a more concise account, focusing primarily on the timing of the stay and the original 1996 conviction. The execution remains halted until further notice while the federal appeals process continues.