Christa Pike, a 50-year-old death row inmate, is set to be executed by lethal injection in Tennessee on Wednesday. She was convicted of murdering her 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in a brutal killing that took place in a wooded area in 1995. Pike, who was 18 at the time of the murder, and her 17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, lured Slemmer into the woods, where they tortured and killed her. The murder drew intense media coverage due to its grisly nature.
Pike's case has garnered significant attention in recent years, with her lawyers arguing that she was the victim of childhood trauma and sexual abuse. In a 226-page petition to Governor Bill Lee, they documented her history of violence, neglect, and sexual abuse, including two rapes at ages 11 and 17. Pike was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder while in prison. Her lawyers pointed out that the 18-year-old girl who committed the murder "no longer exists" and that Pike is now a remorseful woman who understands her actions.
Despite her lawyers' efforts, Governor Lee denied Pike's clemency petition, and the US Supreme Court rejected an 11th-hour bid for a stay of execution on Tuesday. Pike is currently the only woman on Tennessee's death row and will be the first woman to be executed in the state in over two centuries. She will also be the only person in the modern era of US capital punishment to be executed in Tennessee for a crime committed as a teenager.
The murder for which Pike was convicted took place in January 1995, when she, Shipp, and a third companion, Shadolla Peterson, lured Slemmer into a wooded area. Pike and Shipp confessed to the killing and were convicted of first-degree murder the following year. Pike was sentenced to death, while Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole. Peterson, who acted as a lookout, received probation after testifying for the prosecution.
Pike's case has drawn international attention, with a group of UN human rights experts issuing a statement calling for commutation of her death sentence. Sexual violence and trauma experts have also spoken out on her behalf, arguing that the procedures surrounding lethal injection could cause Pike to experience severe, traumatic flashbacks of child sexual abuse and rape. Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, has spoken out in support of the execution.
Executions of female prison inmates are exceedingly rare in the US, with women accounting for just 18 of the 1,683 people put to death since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976. Tennessee has executed 17 people, and Pike will be the first woman to be executed in the state in over two centuries. Pike was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder in an assault on another inmate in August 2001.
The execution is set to take place at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, the state capital. Pike's lawyers had argued that her faulty brain development, caused by her mother's heavy drinking during pregnancy, made it difficult for her to control her impulses as a young person. Despite these arguments, the state has proceeded with the execution plans, and Pike is set to be put to death on Wednesday.
Key points
- Christa Pike is set to be executed by lethal injection in Tennessee on Wednesday for a murder she committed in 1995.
- Pike's case has drawn international attention due to her history of childhood trauma and sexual abuse.
- The execution will mark the first time a woman has been put to death in Tennessee in over two centuries.
