US Supreme Court allows execution of Christa Pike to go ahead

The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for Tennessee inmate Christa Pike to be executed, overturning a last-minute reprieve.

The killing by lethal injection was scheduled to happen earlier on Wednesday before judges from the Sixth Circuit Appeals court halted the execution. Tennessee's attorney general then immediately requested the Supreme Court to overrule the stay.

Pike, 50, has been awaiting execution since she was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer.

If the execution proceeds, Christa Pike will be the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.

It was not immediately clear when the execution would take place.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh granted the application to vacate the stay of the execution. No explanation for lifting the stay was provided in the order.

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