Time running out for Tennessee killer Christa Pike who says she's too damaged for death row
Christa Pike, a death row inmate in Tennessee, faces execution for a 1995 murder after years of failed appeals. Her legal team is seeking clemency, arguing that her past trauma and psychological state should be considered.
Why it matters
The case highlights the ongoing ethical and legal debates surrounding the death penalty in the United States, particularly regarding the execution of women.
Image source, Tennesse Department of Corrections Image caption, Christa Pike's lawyers have filed a clemency petition seeking to commute her sentence ahead of the 30 September execution date
Ashlee Sellars last heard from her friend Christa Pike earlier this week, when Pike texted her from her cell on death row as she prepares to be killed by lethal injection by the US state of Tennessee.
Pike told Sellars she does not want any of her loved ones to be present on Wednesday when she is executed.
"She doesn't want us to experience that," Sellars says.
Sellars finds it hard to reconcile this woman, whom she has only known to be kind and protective, with the person who committed a heinous crime 31 years ago.
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