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A former University of Kentucky cheerleader who admitted ending the life of her newborn son after he was born alive was sentenced Friday to just 10 years in prison. Laken Snelling, 22, of White Pine, Tennessee, received concurrent sentences from Fayette Circuit Judge Diane Minnifield: 10 years for first-degree manslaughter and one year each for abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant. Prosecutors had recommended the concurrent terms as part of a plea agreement. She received credit for 415 days already spent under house arrest and will be eligible for parole after...

As questions remain as to what happens next for Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike after a botched execution attempt last week, her accomplice and former boyfriend has at least another five years before his next parole hearing in the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville. Tadaryl Shipp, 49, was 17 years old when he, Pike and another person tortured and killed Slemmer, their classmate from a vocational school, in a crime with "satanic elements" that still haunts investigators 31 years later. Prosecutors accused Shipp of holding Slemmer down when she tried to escape her attackers...

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike has been discharged from the hospital and returned to prison after surviving a botched lethal injection that left her with serious medical complications, her attorneys announced. Pike, who survived two doses of the execution drug pentobarbital on Sept. 30, is back at the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she has been housed for more than 30 years, according to a joint statement from her legal team. "Christa Pike was discharged from a local hospital and is now at Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center where she has been housed for more than 30 years,"...

A man armed with a gun and a knife was shot dead at a federal courthouse in Nashville on Thursday. According to News 3, the attacker tried to discharge his gun but it wouldn't fire so he used a knife to attack the security guard. The security guard fatally shot the gunman. The gunman was identified as an out-of-state US Marshal. The motive for the attack is unknown. Local 3 News reported: The shooter was identified as an out-of-state U.S. Marshal, who police say entered the front door armed with a pistol. The gunman is dead and there is no...

Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived a failed attempt to execute her nearly a week ago, is awake, her attorneys told reporters after a court hearing Wednesday. Prosecutors and Pike’s legal team were at the Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville regarding a motion by the defense to require the state to preserve evidence from the botched execution, including syringes, drugs, IV lines, and other medical equipment. Pike’s attorneys also complained that state corrections officials had “put up roadblocks” inhibiting them from having access to her hospital room, according to a report by The New York Times....

All 90 pages of Nashville transgender shooter Audrey Hale manifesto was released by The Tennessee Star on Tuesday. Contents from the manifesto of Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a biological female who identified as a transgender male at the time of her horrific attack on March 27, 2023, was leaked earlier this year. Star News Digital Media, Inc., which owns and operates The Star, and the publication’s editor-in-chief, Michael Patrick Leahy, are currently plaintiffs in lawsuits seeking to compel the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and the FBI to release Hale’s writings, including those referred to as a manifesto....

Christa Pike, a Tennessee inmate who survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute her, is conscious and speaking as she continues to receive medical care at a hospital, according to a statement from her attorneys. “Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care. Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery,” her attorneys said in a statement. Pike survived two ostensibly lethal doses of pentobarbital last week...

NEW: Every federal judge in the Middle District of Tennessee has recused from Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s lawsuit against former Special Counsel Jack Smith. The Sixth Circuit will now designate an outside district judge to hear the case.

Tennessee didn't just fail to execute Christa Pike, argues anesthesiologist and intensive care doctor Joel Zivot in a New York Times opinion piece—it exposed what lethal injection really is. Zivot, hired as a medical expert by Pike's legal team, says he warned that her small veins and medical history made a botched execution more likely. On Wednesday, pentobarbital was injected into her veins; when the first dose didn't stop her heart, a second was given. Her arms turned purple, her lawyers say, and she reported extreme pain before an ambulance was finally called more than an hour after the process...

The Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) is once again wrapping itself in the language of “diversity,” “inclusion,” and “beyond borders.” It proudly showcased its 6th Annual Diversity Brunch as a resounding success. Approximately 600 people attended. Food and cultural exhibits from more than 30 nations filled the space. Uzbekistan, Malaysia, and Mexico took top honors. Second Harvest Food Bank collected donations. The Nashville Banner received a “Beyond Borders Award” for being a “champion of inclusion and justice.” Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell was there as a special guest – lending the city’s highest office to the mosque’s photo op. Police officials...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An ambulance is designed to save a life, but Wednesday night, one was called to Riverbend Maximum Security Prison after the State of Tennessee tried to end one. The failed execution of Christa Pike, who was sentenced to death for brutally torturing and murdering 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville in 1995, has raised a lot of questions, including why prison officials called emergency medical services so Pike could receive lifesaving care after attempting to execute her just minutes prior. Pike received two doses of the lethal drug, pentobarbital and survived on Wednesday. According to Pike’s attorneys,...

The doctor who oversaw Christa Pike's failed lethal injection also supervised another Tennessee death row inmate's botched execution in May. Pike, 50, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer, was administered two syringes of pentobarbital at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville late Wednesday. But she was still alive and loudly snoring after the attempted lethal injection and was rushed to a hospital by ambulance, her attorneys said. She remains hospitalized, but her legal team claims they have not been informed about her condition and no updates have been given. Her lawyers...

The first woman set to be put to death in Tennessee in over 200 years was given two doses of a lethal injection Wednesday evening, but remained alive as her botched execution descended into chaos — and prompted the governor to demand an outside probe and issue an emergency pause on all executions for the remainder of the year. Christa Pike, 50, was strapped to a gurney in the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution death chamber just before 7:30 p.m. CDT after the US Supreme Court overruled her stay of execution an hour earlier. Pike — who, at 18, murdered her...

…..According to media witnesses, authorities appeared to give Pike two doses of pentobarbital, and she was still awake and snoring more than 40 minutes after the last dose, The AP reported, and at 8:53 p.m. local time, there was an announcement to escort media witnesses out of the area.

Witnesses said a second dose of pentobarbital were used after the first dose did not kill Pike. The second dose did not kill her either. She was still alive when witnesses left the room.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Newbern, Tennessee man charged with the kidnapping and attempted rape of a little girl this week was indicted in 2020 for the rape of a 95-year-old in the same community, according to the Newbern Police Department. Steven Devonte Harris was arrested Thursday after allegedly kidnapping a 10-year-old girl from her home in Newbern. She was able to escape and get help. But it wasn’t the first time he has been accused of a sex crime. Police said on the morning of November 27, 2019, a man forced his way into a Newbern residence, stole several items,...

President Donald Trump will attend Saturday's college football game at Tennessee between No. 1 Texas and the No. 14 Volunteers, a source confirmed to CBS Sports' Richard Johnson. The noon Eastern showdown comes less than six weeks before November's midterm elections, and as the fate of the Protect College Sports Act hangs in the balance. Trump is a proponent of the PCSA, which would introduce a federal framework to the collegiate sports landscape, rife with chaos over issues of eligibility and compensation. However, the bill still faces legislative hurdles and has not been formally voted on in the House or...

A female Tennessee death row inmate has asked that she be killed by an all-female execution squad after she was convicted for murdering her classmate more than 30 years ago.

Projections indicate that a Paramount exodus would severely hurt California’s economy to the tune of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs if movie studio head David Ellison made good on his threat to relocate. AG Bonta’s lawsuit halts the Warner Bros. acquisition.Conducted by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, the study found that California would lose roughly 28,990 to 57,980 full-time jobs statewide across various industries if Paramount relocated to a state like Tennessee, with revenue losses estimated between $10.6 billion and $21.2 billion annually. “It should be emphasized that these estimated job losses include direct,...

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville is condemning messages that celebrate political violence after mysterious "Kirkaversery" [sic] flyers advertised a gathering apparently marking one year since Charlie Kirk’s assassination, declaring, "WE WILL CELEBRATE THE FIRST NEW YEAR AK (AFTER KIRK)." The flyers, images of which circulated widely on social media and by Libs of TikTok, advertise an 8 p.m. Sept. 10 gathering on the HSS Lawn at UT Knoxville. But the university told Fox News Digital that it is not sponsoring an event related to Kirk’s assassination and that no organization has registered to use the location for such a gathering. A...