NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Christa Pike was sentenced to death at just 18 years old in the mid-1990s.
At her trial, investigators say Pike tortured her victim, Colleen Slemmer while working in the former Federal Jobs Corps Program.
In 2001, Pike nearly choked an inmate to death behind bars.
She's set to be the first woman executed in the state's death chamber in more than 200 years.
Now in a new Legal filing, Pike's attorneys are asking a Tennessee court to re-open her case, citing a new Tennessee Supreme Court ruling that life sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional.
The filing argues there's no scientific difference between the brain of a juvenile and an 18-year-old -- Pike's age when she committed her crime.
The lawsuit also says Pike suffered mental and emotional abuse and trauma throughout her childhood.
The move comes as executions remain on hold in Tennessee.
That's because an independent investigation found the state hadn't been following its own rule book on executions, opening the door for possible contamination of the chemicals used in lethal injections.
