Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran bishops in Tennessee have jointly called for Christa Pike’s death sentence to be commuted.
The 50 year-old is unconscious and on a ventilator in hospital, having survived two failed execution attempts on Wednesday. Lethal injections were stopped when lawyers said she was alive and audibly snoring.
Pike was convicted of killing classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995 at a camp for troubled teens, when she was 18 years old.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered a review and halted other executions for the rest of the year, but the bishops have urged him to go further.
The seven church leaders wrote to Lee on Thursday, asking for him to ensure the state does not attempt to execute her again as “an act of mercy”.
“We make this appeal mindful of the horrific murder of Colleen Slemmer and the immeasurable grief endured by her family and those who loved her. Nothing in our request diminishes the gravity of that crime, the preciousness of Colleen’s life, or the legitimate responsibility of the state to hold those who commit violence accountable. Yet accountability need not require another death.”
Setting out their opposition to the death penalty, bishops said: “These convictions arise from the heart of our Christian faith. We believe every human being bears the image of God and therefore possesses a dignity that even the most grievous sin cannot erase. We believe in accountability, but we also believe in repentance, redemption, mercy, and the possibility of transformation. As Scripture reminds us, God “desires mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13).
“Governor Lee, we therefore respectfully ask you to exercise the authority entrusted to your office and commute Christa Pike’s death sentence to a sentence that protects the public while preserving her life.
“Such an act does not deny justice. It declares that justice need not become vengeance and that the State of Tennessee can choose restraint, human dignity, and mercy.
“As Christian bishops, we believe the Gospel continually calls us beyond cycles of violence and death toward the difficult work of justice, reconciliation, repentance, and life. In that hope, we respectfully ask you to grant clemency.
“May God grant you wisdom, courage, and compassion as you exercise the solemn responsibilities of your office,” the bishops concluded.
More than two-thirds of Americans (68%) view the death penalty as morally justified for those convicted of murder, according to Pew Research. Studies which considered religious identity showed 66% of Protestants and 58% of Catholics were in favour.