NASHVILLE — Tennessee executed Christa Pike on Wednesday, making her the first woman put to death by the state in more than two centuries, the Tennessee Department of Correction confirmed. Pike, 50, was condemned for the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer at a Knoxville job training program.

Pike was 18 when she committed the crime and became the youngest woman on death row in the United States at the time of her sentencing. Her lawyers had sought clemency, citing her age at the time of the offense, childhood abuse, and mental illness.

The execution proceeded after the US Supreme Court and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee declined to intervene. Federal Public Defender attorneys had filed final appeals challenging the state's lethal injection protocol.

Death penalty opponents, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, held vigils outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Advocacy groups argued the case highlighted the troubling practice of executing people who were teenagers when they committed their crimes.

The execution marks a rare moment in the United States, where fewer than 20 women have been executed since 1976. Tennessee had not executed a woman since the early 19th century, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.