Christa Pike's execution in Tennessee was halted an hour before it was due to take place, after judges raised serious concerns. Pike, convicted of a murder she committed aged 18 in 1995, was scheduled to die today (September 30).
The order came down at around 9 a.m., with execution witnesses already gathered at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
Judges review abuse allegations
Judges said they want to review whether her allegations of sexual abuse and rape as a child were fully considered before she was sentenced to death.
This would have been the state's first execution of a woman in at least 200 years, and the first execution of a woman in the US in at least two centuries.
Appeal and delay unclear
It wasn't immediately clear if Tennessee's attorney general was appealing the decision or how long the execution might be delayed.
