Christa Pike Execution: Tennessee Set for First in 200 Years

The Christa Pike execution is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 30, in Tennessee. Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of a classmate when she was 18. If the sentence is carried out, she would be the first woman executed in the state in 200 years.

Governor Bill Lee announced Monday that he will not grant clemency. Pike’s attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the execution. As of Tuesday, Sept. 29, that request was pending.

What Happened in the 1995 Killing

Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, were convicted in the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. All three were students at the Knoxville Job Corps. Prosecutors said Pike feared Slemmer was a romantic rival and lured her to a secluded area, where the couple tortured and killed her.

Prosecutors said Pike cut Slemmer with a box cutter and beat her with a large chunk of asphalt. Shipp has admitted he carved a pentagram into the victim’s body. That detail fed fears of Satan worship during the “satanic panic” of the 1980s and 1990s. The case drew wide attention because of the brutality, the ages of those involved and the symbol.

Pike was 18 at the time and became one of the youngest women sent to death row. Shipp was 17 and received a life sentence with the possibility of parole. He was denied parole last year. A third teen admitted to being an accessory and received probation.

Why the Christa Pike Execution Is Drawing Scrutiny

Pike’s attorneys describe an exceptionally traumatic and abusive childhood. Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said she was sexually abused from toddlerhood and raped at ages 11 and 17. He said her trial lawyers did not give the jury critical information about her past during the penalty phase, and did not argue that her age should count.

Pike was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. She told police she first meant only to fight Slemmer but ended up killing her in a frenzied attack. Her clemency petition says her mental illness and background left her unable to “put the brakes on.”

In a statement included in the petition, Pike said she was a mentally ill 18-year-old and that it took years to grasp what she had done. She wrote that she took someone’s child, sister and friend.

Age and brain development arguments

Ferrell said more is known today about adolescent brain development, and that Pike’s death sentence is an outlier. He noted that other 18-year-olds sentenced to death in Tennessee in the modern era have since had their sentences reduced. Her co-defendant, who was 17, was spared a death sentence because of his age.

The Death Penalty Information Center says 275 people in the United States have been executed for crimes committed at 18, 19 or 20 in the modern death penalty era. It adds that such sentences have become increasingly rare. Its executive director, Robin M. Maher, said she does not believe a jury aware of the documented abuse would sentence Pike to death today.

Other reporting adds context. The center has described a 226-page clemency petition seeking life without parole. It also reports that United Nations human rights experts called for the execution to be halted. In June, Pike’s attorneys challenged the state’s lethal injection protocol, citing her medical conditions. Those filings are described in the sources linked below.

The Victim’s Mother Wants the Sentence Carried Out

May Martinez, Slemmer’s mother, spoke by phone from Florida. She said she has waited decades to see the sentence carried out. She also noted that her daughter never had the chance to grow up.

Martinez described Colleen as easygoing and trusting. Colleen volunteered with the Special Olympics, loved roller skating and wanted a career in computers. Martinez said Colleen and her husband often built and took apart computers together.

Martinez said her daughter called her from Job Corps on the night of the killing, but the call kept dropping. When she called back, Colleen had already gone out. Colleen’s birthday was last week, and she would have been 51, Martinez said.

Executions of Women Are Rare

If the execution proceeds, it would be the first of a woman in Tennessee since 1820, according to Maher. Nationally, 18 women have been executed since 1976, about 1% of all executions.

The most recent cases are recent enough to compare. Missouri executed Amber McLaughlin in 2023, believed to be the first execution of a transgender woman in the U.S. The federal government executed Lisa Montgomery in 2021, the first federal execution of a woman in nearly seven decades. Georgia executed a woman in 2015.

Verified background on the case is available from the Death Penalty Information Center’s report on Pike’s clemency request.

What Happens Next

The decision now rests with the courts. Pike’s attorneys have asked the Supreme Court to stay the execution, and the governor has already ruled out clemency. Unless a court intervenes, the execution is set for Wednesday, Sept. 30. Readers should check official Tennessee and court updates for the latest status.