Tennessee governor declines to halt execution of state's lone woman on death row

Image source, Tennessee Department of Corrections Image caption, If the execution proceeds, Christa Pike would be the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has denied a clemency request from death row inmate Christa Pike, who is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday.

Pike, now 50, was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend beat, tortured and murdered Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old they met at a job training camp for troubled teens.

She may have one last chance at halting her execution as her attorneys have filed a petition with the US Supreme Court hoping for a last-minute reprieve.

If it proceeds, Pike would be the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. Only 18 women have been executed in the US since the 1970s, compared to 1,663 men.