Christa Pike execution is HALTED indefinitely just one hour before murderer was due to be put to death after 'serious concerns' were raised

The first woman set to be executed by Tennessee in 200 years has had her planned lethal injection halted just one hour before it was due to take place after 'serious concerns' had been raised. Murderer Christa Pike was given a stay of execution by the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit around 9am CT Wednesday after a judge agreed to consider whether childhood sexual abuse she suffered was taken into account when she was first sentenced. It is unclear how long the court will take to rule on whether Pike should be executed. She was convicted at the age of 18 in March 1996 for brutally stabbing and beating Knoxville Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer to death. Pike initially demanded she be spared a lethal injection because of her Buddhist beliefs. Earlier this month, she asked for an all-female firing squad to carry out her killing, with her lawyers citing allegations of abuse that she experienced as a child. Her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and an accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, also helped lure Slemmer to a wooded area before the couple tortured her to death. The pair carved a pentagram into the teen's chest, and Peterson testified that he saw Pike also carve something into Slemmer's head, police evidence showed. Slemmer attempted to run for her life, but the couple captured her again and continued the gruesome torture that lasted about 30 minutes to an hour, Pike estimated. Christa Pike's execution has been halted indefinitely just one hour before the she was due to be put to death. She was convicted at the age of 18 in March 1996 for brutally stabbing and beating Knoxville Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer (pictured) to deathPike and Shipp were both found guilty of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to death, and he received a life sentence with the possibility of parole. Her execution was scheduled for 10am CT/ 11am ET before it was stopped. Peterson, then 18, served as a lookout for the couple during the deadly attack and was granted probation in exchange for her cooperation.Just hours before her planned execution, Pike refused her last meal, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction.Inmates are typically given $20 to spend on their last meal, according to The Tennessean. The state still planned to provide Pike with a meal.Her decision came after Governor Bill Lee denied her clemency request and the US Supreme Court declined to stop the execution. Pike's lawyers said they were 'deeply saddened and heartbroken' by the governor's decision.'Moving ahead with her execution puts the State of Tennessee on singular footing,' they said in a statement to Fox 17. Just hours before her planned execution, Pike refused her last meal, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction. (Pictured: A lethal injection bed inside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution) Pike's boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp (left), and an accomplice, Shadolla Peterson (right), also helped lure Slemmer to a wooded area before the couple tortured her to death'Christa will be the first person Tennessee executes in the modern death penalty era who was a teenager at the time of the offense, and the first woman executed by the state in more than 200 years.' Just a week before her execution, Pike asked for an all-female firing squad to kill her instead of lethal injection, the New York Post reported. Her lawyers cited her post-traumatic stress disorder from years of abuse she suffered at the hands of men as a young girl, including when she was two years old. Because of that, they requested that an all-female team handle her execution because she has trauma from men.'[Lethal injection administered by men] will increase the likelihood that an 8th Amendment violation will occur,' Pike's lawyer Stephen Ferrell said.'There is an increased risk of pain and suffering.'Pike was 'terrified' of dying a 'painful' death by lethal injection, the report stated. Slemmer's heartbroken mother, May Martinez, watched her daughter's murderer die after previously telling the Daily Mail that she wanted a front-row seat to the executionIn August, she asked the court to consider allowing her to be hanged instead, WATE reported. Slemmer's heartbroken mother, May Martinez, watched her daughter's murderer die after previously telling the Daily Mail that she wanted a front-row seat to the execution. She and other execution witnesses had gathered at the jail when the order to halt Pike's death was issued.