Christa Pike is set to be executed in Tennessee today.Despite attempts to stop the 50-year-old’s execution by lethal injection, it remains scheduled to take place on Wednesday (30 September) at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee.Having refused her final meal, the teen killer will be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 yearsAt the age of 18, a judge said she carried out a ‘horrific’ and ‘brutal’ murder of Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville.Pike and two friends lured the 19-year-old into the woods, where they beat, tortured, and killed her. Pike was sentenced to death at 20 years old in 1996.Yet Mississippi’s first execution since 2012 raises questions about the body’s disposition.

In most cases, the state will release the body of an inmate to friends or family members. After prison officials notify a pre-designated family member or legal representative, they are given a set window of time to claim the body.The individual or estate is then responsible for the body, funeral, burial and transportation costs.If nobody claims Pike’s body, Tennessee officials must try to contact her relatives and keep the body for 96 hours. After that, the state’s chief medical examiner has another 72 hours to decide whether to take responsibility for itThe county would arrange for it to be legally buried or cremated, as Pike’s property could be used to cover the cost. If there is not enough money, the county would pay.Although, Pike may already have arranged for someone to claim her body after her execution.