The US Supreme Court has ruled that Tennessee can proceed with the execution of Christa Pike, 50, who was convicted of murdering a schoolmate in 1995. The execution, which is scheduled to take place by lethal injection, is significant as it marks the first time a woman has been executed in Tennessee in 200 years. Pike was 18 years old when she committed the crime, and her lawyers had argued that her childhood trauma and mental health issues should be considered in her clemency petition.
Pike was convicted of first-degree murder for the killing of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old classmate at their Knoxville Job Corps vocational center. The crime was particularly gruesome, with the perpetrators carving a pentagram into Slemmer's chest and taking a chunk of her skull as a souvenir. Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, were both convicted of murder, but Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
The Tennessee Department of Correction had planned to execute Pike on Wednesday, but a stay of execution was granted by a three-judge panel of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals just hours before the scheduled execution. The appellate panel voted 2-1 to order a "short stay" to allow time to consider Pike's claim that evidence of her childhood sexual abuse was not adequately considered during her sentencing. However, the US Supreme Court lifted the stay, allowing the execution to proceed.
Pike's lawyers had argued that her history of childhood trauma and mental health issues made her ineligible for the death penalty. They documented her history as a victim of violence, neglect, and sexual abuse, including two rapes at ages 11 and 17. Pike's lawyers also cited her diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as evidence that her mother drank heavily during pregnancy, contributing to faulty brain development.
The denial of Pike's clemency petition by Governor Bill Lee on Monday was met with criticism from her lawyers, who argued that the 18-year-old girl who committed the crime "no longer exists." They described Pike as a 50-year-old remorseful woman who understands her actions and receives proper treatment for her mental illness. 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 prior to Pike's scheduled execution. The state's attorney general's office had asked the US Supreme Court to vacate the stay, and the high court's decision marked the final word on whether the execution was permitted to go forward.
The execution is set to take place at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, the state capital. If the state were to run out of time to conduct the execution, it would need to obtain a new warrant from the Tennessee Supreme Court. The Death Penalty Information Center has been monitoring the case, with executive director Robin Maher noting that Pike would be the only person in the modern era of US capital punishment to be executed in Tennessee for a crime committed as a teenager.
Key points
- The US Supreme Court has allowed Tennessee to proceed with the execution of Christa Pike, 50, who was convicted of murdering a schoolmate in 1995.
- Pike's lawyers had argued that her childhood trauma and mental health issues should be considered in her clemency petition.
- The execution marks the first time a woman has been executed in Tennessee in 200 years.
