Krista Pike to become first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years

The US state of Tennessee is preparing to execute Krista Pike, 50, on September 30, making her the first woman to be executed in the state in nearly 200 years.

Pike has requested that the execution be carried out by an all-female team, and has said she will ask for hanging instead of lethal injection if her request is not met, according to the New York Post.

Pike was convicted of murdering her classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995, when she was 18. She lured the 19-year-old victim to a secluded spot on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, where she attacked and tortured her to death with the help of her boyfriend. The pair beat Slemmer, slit her throat, and carved satanic symbols into her body.

Pike's lawyers have argued that she suffered physical abuse, neglect, and domestic violence as a child, and that these factors were not considered at sentencing. They also cited diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The defense is seeking to persuade Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison without parole, arguing that her history of trauma could have influenced the jury's decision, though it does not excuse the crime.

However, court documents show that Pike told a friend the day before the crime that she intended to kill Slemmer because she "felt evil that day."

Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and was sentenced to death in March 1996. At the time, she was among the youngest women ever sentenced to death in the United States.