What time is Christa Pike scheduled to be executed is the key question as Tennessee approaches the scheduled execution of death-row inmate Christa Gail Pike. The Tennessee Department of Correction has set the execution for 10:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Pike’s request for a stay on September 29, leaving the 10:00 a.m. CDT execution time in place as the latest confirmed schedule.
What time is Christa Pike scheduled to be executed?
Christa Pike is scheduled to be executed at 10:00 a.m. CDT on September 30, 2026.
The scheduled execution location is Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee. Tennessee Department of Correction materials identify Pike by inmate number 261368 and confirm the 10:00 a.m. Central time schedule.
For readers in other U.S. time zones, the scheduled time converts as follows:
| U.S. time zone | Scheduled time |
|---|---|
| Eastern Daylight Time | 11:00 a.m. |
| Central Daylight Time | 10:00 a.m. |
| Mountain Daylight Time | 9:00 a.m. |
| Pacific Daylight Time | 8:00 a.m. |
| Alaska Daylight Time | 7:00 a.m. |
| Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time | 5:00 a.m. |
The official Tennessee schedule uses Central Daylight Time because the execution is taking place in Nashville.
The time is a scheduled start time rather than a guarantee that every procedural step will occur at exactly that minute. Court action, an emergency legal order, or another official intervention could affect whether the execution proceeds. However, as of the latest verified update, Tennessee has not moved the scheduled 10:00 a.m. CDT time.
Has the Supreme Court stopped Christa Pike’s execution?
No. The latest major development came on September 29, 2026, when the U.S. Supreme Court denied Pike’s application for a stay of execution and denied her petition for a writ of certiorari.
That decision is especially important because Pike’s attorneys had taken the case to the Supreme Court after earlier efforts to stop the execution failed in Tennessee.
The Supreme Court docket shows that Pike filed her stay application on September 25. Tennessee filed its opposition on September 28, and Pike filed a reply the same day.
On September 29, the application was referred to the full Court. The Court then denied the stay and denied the petition for review.
As a result, the latest confirmed schedule remains:
- Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2026
- Time: 10:00 a.m. CDT
- Location: Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, Nashville, Tennessee
- Method: Lethal injection under Tennessee’s current protocol
The Supreme Court decision does not itself carry out the execution. It means the requested federal stay was denied, leaving the state free to proceed unless another lawful intervention changes the situation.
When did Tennessee set the execution date?
The execution date was established through Tennessee’s judicial process. The Tennessee Supreme Court set September 30, 2026, as Pike’s execution date.
The Tennessee Department of Correction later issued formal notices for media witnesses and other preparations. On August 31, the department announced that the execution was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. CDT on September 30.
That official announcement is significant because it provides the specific time sought by people searching for the execution schedule.
The department also issued media guidelines ahead of the event. Media check-in at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. CDT on September 30. The department said media would not be permitted to enter the designated parking area after 8:30 a.m. CDT.
Those times are media-access deadlines. They are not the execution time itself.
The execution remains scheduled for 10:00 a.m. CDT.
Where is Christa Pike scheduled to be executed?
Pike is scheduled to be executed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee.
The prison is located at 7475 Cockrill Bend Boulevard. Tennessee Department of Correction materials identify Riverbend Maximum Security Institution as the location connected with the September 30 execution.
The department has established designated areas for approved media coverage. The official media guidance states that media representatives may use the RMSI parking lot area and the public area adjacent to the parking lot.
The public does not have general access to the execution chamber.
Media members selected to witness the execution must follow Tennessee Department of Correction requirements. The department previously selected seven official media witnesses and an alternate from recognized Tennessee news organizations.
What method is scheduled for the execution?
Tennessee’s current lethal-injection protocol uses the single drug pentobarbital.
The Tennessee Department of Correction completed a revision of its lethal-injection protocol in December 2024. The revised protocol provides for the use of pentobarbital as the single drug.
That is the method currently associated with Pike’s scheduled execution.
The distinction matters because Tennessee has historically authorized more than one execution method under certain circumstances. The state’s current lethal-injection protocol, however, specifies the single-drug pentobarbital procedure.
Pike’s legal team has challenged aspects of Tennessee’s execution procedures as part of the litigation surrounding her death sentence. The courts have rejected the requests that would have prevented the scheduled execution from moving forward at this stage.
Why is Christa Pike scheduled for execution?
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville.
Pike was 18 when Slemmer was killed. Tennessee court records show that Pike was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
The case involved Pike, her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and Shadolla Peterson. Shipp was 17 at the time of the crime and could not receive a death sentence because of his age. He received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Pike received the death sentence after the jury found aggravating circumstances that supported capital punishment under Tennessee law.
Her conviction and death sentence have remained in place through decades of appeals.
Tennessee Department of Correction records list Pike as having been placed on death row in March 1996. She remains the state’s only female death-row prisoner.
How old is Christa Pike now?
Christa Pike is 50 years old.
Tennessee Department of Correction death-row information lists her birth date as March 10, 1976. The department identifies her as the only woman currently on Tennessee’s death row.
Pike has spent approximately three decades under a death sentence.
Her age at the time of the crime has become an important part of the latest legal arguments surrounding her execution. Pike was 18 when Slemmer was killed.
Her attorneys have argued that her age, history of childhood abuse and mental-health issues should be considered in deciding whether the death sentence should be carried out.
Those arguments have not resulted in a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court as of the latest confirmed update.
What happened with Governor Bill Lee’s clemency decision?
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declined to intervene in Pike’s case.
Lee announced the decision on September 28, after reviewing Pike’s clemency request. Pike’s attorneys had asked that her death sentence be changed to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The governor’s decision left the scheduled execution date intact.
The clemency process was one of the final major avenues for stopping the execution at the state level. After the governor declined to intervene, Pike’s attorneys continued their efforts through the federal courts.
The Supreme Court subsequently denied the requested stay on September 29.
Therefore, both the state clemency request and the most recent Supreme Court stay request have failed to stop the scheduled execution.
What time should viewers in different states expect the execution?
Because Tennessee is observing Central Daylight Time in September, the official 10:00 a.m. CDT schedule translates to different times across the country.
For people on the East Coast, the scheduled time is 11:00 a.m. EDT.
For people in the Central time zone, it is 10:00 a.m. CDT.
For people in the Mountain time zone, it is 9:00 a.m. MDT.
For people on the West Coast, it is 8:00 a.m. PDT.
These conversions are based on the scheduled Tennessee time. They do not mean the execution will necessarily begin simultaneously with every related media report or court update.
The state has specifically identified 10:00 a.m. CDT as the execution time.
What could still affect the scheduled time?
Although the Supreme Court has denied Pike’s current request for a stay, the word “scheduled” remains important.
An execution date and time represent the state’s official timetable. They do not eliminate the possibility of a later legal order or other official development.
As of the latest verified information, however, no such change has been announced.
The Supreme Court’s September 29 order is the most significant update immediately before the scheduled execution. The Court denied both Pike’s petition for a writ of certiorari and her application for a stay.
That means the latest confirmed information continues to point to 10:00 a.m. CDT on September 30, 2026.
Christa Pike execution schedule at a glance
For readers looking for the answer quickly, the essential details are:
- Person: Christa Gail Pike
- Scheduled execution date: September 30, 2026
- Scheduled execution time: 10:00 a.m. CDT
- Eastern time: 11:00 a.m. EDT
- Mountain time: 9:00 a.m. MDT
- Pacific time: 8:00 a.m. PDT
- Location: Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, Nashville, Tennessee
- Scheduled method: Lethal injection using Tennessee’s current single-drug pentobarbital protocol
- Governor’s clemency decision: Clemency denied
- Latest Supreme Court action: Stay denied and petition for certiorari denied on September 29, 2026
Bottom line on the Christa Pike execution time
The answer to what time is Christa Pike scheduled to be executed is 10:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. That corresponds to 11:00 a.m. Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Mountain and 8:00 a.m. Pacific.
The schedule remains current after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Pike’s request for a stay on September 29. Gov. Bill Lee had already declined to grant clemency, and Tennessee has continued preparations at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.
Unless an additional official action changes the schedule, Tennessee’s stated plan is to carry out the execution at 10:00 a.m. CDT.
Stay with the latest verified updates as the September 30 execution time approaches, and share your thoughts in the comments below.