Amnesty International has issued an urgent action through which its members around the world are urging Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to stop the execution of Christa Pike, scheduled for September 30, 2026, and commute her death sentence by granting her clemency request.
Ms. Pike, aged 50, was convicted in 1996 of a murder committed in 1995 when she was 18 years old. She was barely out of a childhood marked by rape, sexual and physical violence, abuse, and neglect when the crime occurred. At trial, her court-appointed lawyers presented little of the mitigating evidence related to this abuse and its long-term psychological consequences.
“So much of Ms. Pike’s experience reflects widespread and systemic failures that surface in death penalty cases,” said Justin Mazzola, Deputy Director of Research at Amnesty International USA. “She endured profound abuse and trauma as a child and had serious mental disabilities that were never adequately addressed nor treated. Due to inadequate legal representation, these issues were not fully presented to the jury. Knowing all that, it is unthinkable that Governor Lee would even consider moving forward with this execution.”
Ms. Pike was also very young at the time of the crime. Scientific research shows that development of the brain and psychological and emotional maturation continues into a person’s 20s, an issue also noted by a U.S. Sixth Circuit Judge, who would have vacated Christa Pike’s death sentence if not barred by procedural issues.
“In this moment, people around the world are asking Governor Lee to grant clemency to Ms. Pike, and we add our voice to theirs,” Mazzola said. “But this issue is about more than one person. Amnesty International members are speaking out because the use of the death penalty remains a human rights failure. As its use continues to decline globally, the United States remains an outlier. It is well past time to abolish the death penalty once and for all, in Tennessee and beyond.”
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception as the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment and a violation of the human right to life.
Additional information about the death penalty in the U.S.
In 2025, the U.S. carried out 47 executions in 11 states, reaching the highest they’ve been since 2009. Florida drove the spike with 19 executions. South Carolina, Texas, and Alabama followed with five executions in each state. Other states that used the death penalty were Tennessee (3), Arizona (2), Indiana (2), Mississippi (2), Oklahoma (2), Missouri (1) and Louisiana (1). The U.S. was among the top five highest executing countries of 2025.
So far in 2026, there have been 24 executions in the U.S. Tennessee has executed 11 people since it resumed executions in 2018. As of today, 113 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and 145 are abolitionist in law or practice.
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