Supreme Court · Thursday, October 1, 2026
Supreme Court clears path for Tennessee to execute Christa Pike
The File desk · Oct 1, 2026, 10:10 AM UTC
Status
Confirmed (Supreme Court order in 26A428, Sept. 30, 2026). Whether the execution proceeded is outside this lock.
On Sept. 30, 2026, the Supreme Court granted Tennessee’s application, 26A428, to vacate a same-day Sixth Circuit stay of Christa Gail Pike’s death sentence for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson dissented. Whether the execution proceeded after the order is outside this edition’s lock.
On Sept. 30, 2026, the Supreme Court granted Tennessee’s application number 26A428.
The order vacates a stay the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit had entered the same day.
The stay had blocked the execution of Christa Gail Pike.
Pike’s death sentence is for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
The order is on the Court’s opinions page for the current term. The docket is public.
Whether Tennessee carried out the execution after the order is outside this edition’s lock. This desk does not report a time of death.
What is still unknown or disputed
- Whether the execution proceeded after the order.
Primary sources
Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.
Source 1
Order, 26A428
Supreme Court of the United States · September 30, 2026
Application 26A428 granted. The Sixth Circuit’s stay of Christa Gail Pike’s execution is vacated. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson dissented.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a428_4f15.pdf
Source 2
Docket, 26A428
Supreme Court of the United States · September 30, 2026
Public docket for application 26A428.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a428.html