Tennessee to execute first woman in 200 years after governor denies clemency

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has denied clemency for Christa Pike, scheduled to become the state's first woman executed in 200 years on Wednesday.

• Lee announced Monday he would uphold the state's sentence and not intervene.
• Pike, 50, was convicted of the 1995 murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer, committed when Pike was 18.
• Her attorneys have petitioned the US Supreme Court for a stay, arguing an 18-year-old brain is not an adult brain.
• Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, said she wants the execution carried out so her daughter can finally rest.
• Pike asked that an all-female team carry out her lethal injection, citing childhood sexual abuse trauma.
• Her defense also proposed death by hanging instead, but Tennessee officials said the state is not equipped for that method.
• The Tennessee Supreme Court rejected a stay on September 23 while her lawyers continued their appeals.