Christa Pike is a cold-blooded murderer who should be put to death ... at least according to prosecutors fighting her request to pump the brakes on her scheduled execution.
According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, the feds are asking the court to deny Christa's recent request to send her case to another court for further proceedings about whether she received ineffective assistance of counsel at her sentencing … but prosecutors insist this is just another effort to relitigate a previously rejected claim.
In their filing, the prosecutors make their position clear, writing, "On January 12, 1995, Christa Gail Pike beat, tortured, and killed Colleen Slemmer because Pike 'just felt mean that day.'"
They go on ... "Pike cut Colleen's throat six times, struck her in the back with a meat cleaver, and crushed her skull with a piece of asphalt."
Gillio Lopes, one of the fraternity brothers accused of drugging and raping a fellow Cornell student, is trying to clear his name ... with his lawyer denying all the allegations against him.
His attorney, Tara J. Davis, tells TMZ ... "Cornell previously investigated this matter and developed an extensive factual record. The allegations now being made publicly differ in significant respects from the accounts provided during that investigation and do not reflect the complete record."
Lopes' lawyer adds ... "Those inconsistencies will be tested through discovery and addressed in the litigation."
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Cornell alum, says her alma mater needs to "step up" in the alleged gang rape case ... and stop treating accountability like an afterthought ... because they've so far failed to protect women.
Jacobcaught up with the senator from Michigan on Capitol Hill Wednesday ... and she told him Cornell should have taken the allegations seriously from the jump.
Slotkin said universities have plenty of ways to take action and hold students accountable while a legal case plays out -- suspensions, expulsions, indefinite suspensions -- and made clear she doesn't consider writing an essay much of a punishment.
10:00 AM PT -- TMZ has learned that the passenger has unfortunately died ... their body has been turned over to the King County Medical Examiner.
A United Airlines passenger suffered a medical emergency Tuesday after he turned "deep purple" during a flight from Tokyo to Denver ... and the plane had to be diverted to Seattle for an emergency landing, according to witnesses and officials.
The horrific incident began about 6 and a half hours into the 10 and a half hour flight from Narita International Airport in Japan to Denver International Airport in Colorado, according to an eyewitness and the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA said the crew reported that a passenger was having a medical emergency.
The eyewitness tells TMZ ... she was woken up by a commotion near her seat and was shocked to see an unconscious man lying on the floor with 3 firemen and a stewardess surrounding him.
Deontay Wilder says his ex-fiancée Telli Swift's son's allegations that the boxer brutally beat him up are totally bogus.
Deontay makes a vehement denial in new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... and his legal team goes even further ... claiming, among other things, if Kerron Swift suffered any injuries, those were caused by pre-existing conditions or unrelated events.
In addition ... they say that Kerron cannot back up his claims of emotional distress, false imprisonment, assault and battery.
Phoenix Suns player Dillon Brooks' legal issues just got worse ... he's been charged with driving under the influence ... TMZ has learned.
On Monday, prosecutors in Scottsdale, Arizona, filed a criminal complaint with the misdemeanor DUI charge ... stemming from Brooks' arrest back in March.
LaMelo Ball's baby mama, Ana Montana, has found herself in some legal trouble in North Carolina ... TMZ has learned she's facing felony drug charges.
Montana -- real name Analicia Chaves -- was arrested Monday in Mecklenburg County, according to booking records obtained by TMZ.
She was hit with two felony counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or forgery, plus two misdemeanor counts of simple possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance.
Hayden Panettiere's family is backing her ex Wladimir Klitschko as he seeks legal guardianship of their daughter Kaya, telling TMZ they believe he's a devoted father who has Hayden's best interests at heart.
Sources connected to the family tell TMZ ... the family is supportive of Wlad's efforts to take a greater role in the transition of Hayden's estate to 11-year-old Kaya, who is set to inherit all of her mother's assets.
We're told the family's POV is the court filing is just a legal formality, and they add, "Wlad is a great father and we are grateful."
Here's the first look at an emotional scene from the upcoming Anna Nicole Smith movie ... and it's dramatic.
Abbie Cornish plays Anna Nicole in "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor" ... and in the clip, obtained by TMZ, she's crying in a hospital bed and telling her doctor she feels like she can't help but "f*** things up."
Kal Penn plays Anna Nicole's doctor, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, as she emotionally exclaims that having her son, Daniel, was the best thing she's ever done, expressing how she wants to bring something good into the world. The film is set for release on October 16.
Clavicular is using alleged texts sent by his alleged rape accuser to defend himself in court ... TMZ has learned.
The influencer submitted a series of alleged messages sent by Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza, who claims the Looksmaxxing content creator assaulted her in May 2025. She also claims he injected a drug named Aqualyx into her face and provided her with alcohol while she was underage.
The influencer was charged in Massachusetts with rape after Aleksandra filed a civil lawsuit in Florida.
Senator Eric Schmitt's standing behind his line of questioning in the Jack Smith hearing ... even though it seems his "gotcha" moment totally backfired.
Here's the deal ... during a Senate hearing Tuesday morning, Senator Schmitt asked former Special Counsel Smith if he went to an Atlanta Hawks game on February 3, 2024.
Smith told him no and seemed totally puzzled ... and Sen. Schmitt seemed to gloat a bit -- claiming at one point that the dude might've just perjured himself and insisting they had text messages about him going to a basketball game that night.
Matthew Ingalls, one of the Cornell students accused of sexually assaulting a classmate, was not fired from DataAnnotation over the case ... but the A.I. company says it did block him from its platform months before the alleged incident occurred.
A DataAnnotation spokesperson tells TMZ ... "Jane Doe’s allegations of assault are horrifying. While this individual had signed up on our platform, we blocked him in May 2024. He has had no access to our platform or our company at any point since then."
DataAnnotation is responding after social posts claiming it had canned Ingalls in the wake of Jane Doe's lawsuit accusing 7 Chi Phi fraternity brothers of gang raping her in October 2024.
Sophie Rain is NOT happy with the way her podcast with Bryce Crawford went down ... telling us he was "religion-baiting" her.
The OnlyFans model tells TMZ ... she thought she and the Christian podcaster were going to have an "honest conversation," but she walked away feeling like he was just trying to set her up.
She tells us ... "Watching it back, I felt like my religion was being used to put me on trial. He kept coming back to whether my work was a sin, even after I'd answered him."
Howie Mandel says he doesn't know if "America's Got Talent" will leave Los Angeles ... because he hasn't even been offered a contract for the show's next season ... at least not yet.
We caught up with the comedian at his podcast studio in the L.A. area on Tuesday ... and he admitted he hasn't been asked to sign on for the next season of 'AGT' -- though it sounds like he doesn't think anyone has.
That said, Howie would be willing to leave L.A. if necessary to shoot the show since the producer might want to head off to Atlanta ... though he says he'd rather sleep in his own bed in L.A. -- and pitched a possible hologram version of himself via his company, Proto Hologram, to make it happen and cut down on travel costs if the show packs up and leaves.
The Challenge's CT Tamburello is finally making progress on his divorce from OnlyFans model Catalina White as his relationship with 'RHOA' star Phaedra Parksgrows stronger ... TMZ has learned.
The divorce case was at a standstill for months after CT filed back in June ... but according to new court docs, obtained by TMZ, the two are now scheduled to face off at a private mediation next month … to try to settle their issues.
As TMZ first reported, Catalina filed for divorce in January but dismissed the case months later, claiming she felt pressure from CT. The reality star then filed his own divorce.
