Tennessee Set to Execute Christa Pike on September 30, First Woman in 200 Years

Tennessee is set to execute Christa Pike on September 30 after Governor Bill Lee denied her clemency request on September 28. Pike, now 50, was 18 when she and her boyfriend killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer at Knoxville Job Corps in 1995. If the execution proceeds, Pike becomes the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years and the first person the state executes in the modern death penalty era who committed the crime as a teenager.

Why the execution is historic

Only 18 women have been executed in the United States since 1977, compared to 1,663 men. Women account for just 1% of all executions in the modern death penalty era. Pike would be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. The most recent execution of a woman was Amber McLaughlin, a transgender woman executed in Missouri in 2023 for murder.

The 1995 killing and Pike’s background

Pike and her then-boyfriend beat, tortured, and killed Slemmer over jealousy. Prosecutors said Pike feared Slemmer was a romantic rival and lured her to a secluded area. A satanic symbol was carved into Slemmer’s body, which drew widespread media attention. Pike was convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and became the youngest woman sentenced to death in modern U.S. history. Her attorneys say she experienced sexual abuse starting as a toddler, rape at ages 11 and 17, and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Governor Lee’s decision and Pike’s remaining options

Lee announced on September 28 that he would not grant clemency after deliberate consideration of Pike’s case. Pike’s attorneys filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking a last-minute stay of execution. Pike’s legal team argued that an 18-year-old brain is not an adult brain and that executing someone for a crime committed at that age violates established science and legal principles. Tennessee’s Attorney General has not contested the core facts about Pike’s childhood abuse.

Why women rarely face execution

Researchers found that 96% of women on death row experienced rape, sexual abuse as children, or domestic violence before arrest. Yet prosecutors often minimize or dismiss these experiences, according to Sandra Babcock, founding director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide. Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, noted that juries may be more hesitant to impose death on women because they do not fit the image of who deserves the worst penalty. There are currently 45 women on death row across the U.S., with California holding the most at 17.

Final Thoughts

Pike’s execution on September 30 marks a historic moment for Tennessee and raises questions about juvenile culpability and mental illness in capital cases. The U.S. Supreme Court petition offers a final legal avenue, though the governor’s denial signals the state’s intent to proceed.

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