Tennessee Executes First Woman in 200 Years as Christa Pike’s Final Appeals Fail

Christa Pike, 50, will be executed by lethal injection on September 30 in Tennessee, making her the first woman executed in the state in more than 200 years. The U.S. Supreme Court denied her stay request on September 29, less than 24 hours before the scheduled execution. Governor Bill Lee rejected her clemency plea on September 28. Pike was convicted in 1996 for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom she killed with her then-boyfriend when both were teenagers at a job training camp.

Why Pike’s execution is historic

Pike’s execution marks a rare moment in U.S. capital punishment. Only 18 women have been executed in the country’s modern death penalty era, which began in 1977, compared to 1,663 men. Tennessee has not executed a woman in over 200 years. Pike is also the first person Tennessee will execute in the modern era who was a teenager at the time of the offense, according to her legal team.

The 1995 murder and Pike’s conviction

Pike, then 18, and her boyfriend killed Colleen Slemmer, 19, at a Knoxville Job Corps facility in 1995. Prosecutors said Pike feared Slemmer was a romantic rival and lured her to a secluded area where she and her boyfriend tortured and killed her. A satanic symbol was carved into Slemmer’s body. Pike does not deny her guilt but has argued her age and traumatic past should spare her from execution.

Pike’s trauma and mental health history

Pike’s legal team argues her childhood of repeated sexual abuse and untreated mental illness should have prevented a death sentence. Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said Pike was sexually abused starting as a toddler and raped at ages 11 and 17. She was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Her trial lawyers did not present this evidence to the jury, her attorneys claim. The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office did not contest the abuse Pike suffered, according to court filings.

Why women are rarely executed

Women account for only 1% of all executions in the modern death penalty era. Experts say women commit fewer violent crimes overall. Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, noted that juries may be hesitant to impose the death penalty on women because they do not fit the image people hold of who deserves the harshest punishment. Researchers found that 96% of women on death row experienced rape, sexual abuse as children, or domestic violence before arrest. Currently, 45 women sit on death row across the U.S., with California holding the most at 17.

Clemency denied and final appeals exhausted

Governor Lee announced on September 28 that he was upholding Pike’s death sentence and would not intervene. He provided no explanation for his decision. Amnesty International and more than 100 women’s advocacy groups and sex abuse experts urged Lee to grant clemency, arguing that lethal injection would retraumatize Pike given her history of sexual violence. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to stay the execution on September 29. Slemmer’s mother has stated she wants the execution to proceed after waiting decades for Pike’s sentence to be carried out.

Final Thoughts

Pike’s execution on September 30 will mark a historic moment for Tennessee and underscore the rarity of capital punishment for women in the U.S. Her case highlights ongoing debates over whether childhood trauma and age should bar execution, even in brutal crimes.

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