Xavier Becerra and Trump respond to botched Christa Pike execution.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted Tennessee's execution of Christa Pike on Wednesday, intervening roughly an hour before her scheduled lethal injection. The 2-1 ruling came after witnesses had already gathered at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

• Pike, 50, was convicted of the 1995 stabbing and beating of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
• 18 women have been executed in the U.S. since capital punishment resumed in 1976.
• Governor Bill Lee denied Pike's clemency request on Monday.
• The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Pike's attorneys' request to halt the execution.

Why it matters: The appeals court said it needs time to determine whether Pike's childhood sexual abuse — including, her lawyers argue, rapes beginning when she was a toddler — was fully considered before a jury sentenced her to death in 1996.

• Pike was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder after the killing.
• Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said Pike's death sentence is an outlier because other 18-year-olds sentenced to death in Tennessee have had their sentences vacated.

How 94 sources split on this story

Where they split: The central dispute is whether Pike's age, mental illness, and abuse history warrant a sentence reduction, or whether the original death sentence should stand.

What’s next: Tennessee's attorney general immediately appealed the stay to the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Witnesses and media remained at the prison pending a high court decision.
• Will the U.S. Supreme Court lift the stay and allow the execution to proceed?
• How long will the 6th Circuit's review take, and what standard will it apply to the abuse evidence?