The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Christa Pike’s last-minute request to halt her scheduled execution, leaving the 50-year-old Tennessee death-row prisoner facing an execution date of September 30, 2026.

In an order issued September 29, the Supreme Court denied both Pike’s application for a stay of execution and her peтιтion asking the justices to review her case. The decision means the Court will not hear the appeal raised in that peтιтion.

The ruling followed an earlier decision by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who declined to grant Pike clemency after reviewing her request. Her attorneys had argued that factors including her age at the time of the 1995 offense, mental-health history and severe childhood abuse should be considered in determining whether the death sentence should be carried out.

Pike was 18 when she was convicted in connection with the killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville in January 1995. Pike was sentenced to death in 1996.

If the execution proceeds as scheduled, Pike would become the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than two centuries. The case has drawn renewed attention because Pike was a teenager when the offense occurred and because her defense has continued to challenge aspects of her sentencing and execution proceedings.

Slemmer’s family has also remained part of the public discussion surrounding the case. Her mother, May Martinez, has expressed support for carrying out Pike’s sentence, according to The ᴀssociated Press.

For now, the Supreme Court’s decision leaves the September 30 execution scheduled to proceed unless another legal intervention changes the situation.

Source: U.S. Supreme Court, ᴀssociated Press and Death Penalty Information Center