Stories
Christa Pike Faces Execution: First Woman in Tennessee in 200 Years
- •Christa Pike, 50, is scheduled for execution by lethal injection, potentially making her the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years.
- •Governor Bill Lee denied her clemency request, with lawyers pursuing a final appeal to the US Supreme Court.
- •Pike was convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 for the brutal 1995 killing of classmate Colleen Slemmer, whom she believed was a romantic rival.
- •Her clemency petition cited a traumatic childhood, mental health issues, and her age (18) at the time of the crime, but a federal court previously found this evidence insufficient to change the outcome.
- •Executions of women are rare in the US, with only 18 women executed nationwide since 1976.
Key Questions Answered
Christa Pike is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee.
In January 1995, 18-year-old Pike and her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp lured 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer to a secluded area at the Knoxville Job Corps and killed her. Prosecutors stated Pike believed Slemmer was a romantic rival, and the brutal attack infamously involved a pentagram being carved into the victim's body.
Governor Bill Lee denied Pike's clemency request after her defense lawyers petitioned to commute her death sentence to life without parole based on her traumatic childhood, severe abuse, and mental health diagnoses. However, the governor allowed the sentence to stand, though her legal team pursued a final appeal with the US Supreme Court.
