Tennessee is preparing to carry out its first execution of a woman in more than two centuries after the state’s Supreme Court officially scheduled the death of Christa Gail Pike, the only woman currently on Tennessee’s death row.
Execution date scheduled for 2026
According to court documents filed on September 30, the State of Tennessee requested an execution date for Pike, now 49, which has been set for September 30, 2026. If carried out, Pike would become the first woman executed in the state since 1820, and only the fourth in Tennessee history.
The Death Penalty Information Center notes that the last recorded execution of a woman in Tennessee was Martin Eve in 1820, who was hanged for being an accessory to murder.
The 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer
Pike was just 18 years old when she committed one of the most brutal murders in Tennessee’s history. On Jan. 12, 1995, she lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer into a wooded area near the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus in Knoxville.
Both women were part of the Knoxville Job Corps, a career-training program, when Pike began dating 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp. Pike reportedly grew jealous and convinced herself that Slemmer was interested in her boyfriend, the Daily Mail reports.
Court records reveal chilling details of what followed: Pike slashed Slemmer’s throat with a box cutter, struck her with a meat cleaver, carved a pentagram into her chest, and ultimately crushed her skull with a piece of asphalt. She later kept a fragment of Slemmer’s skull as a trophy and showed it off to classmates.
Sentencing and appeals
In 1996, Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Shipp received life with the possibility of parole, while a third accomplice, who testified against Pike, was given probation.
Pike’s violence didn’t stop in prison. In 2004, she was convicted of attempting to strangle a fellow inmate, earning an additional 25 years on top of her death sentence, Fox News details.
For nearly three decades, Pike’s case has moved through a lengthy appeals process.
Mental health claims
Her attorneys continue to argue against execution, pointing to her age at the time of the crime, as well as a history of childhood trauma, abuse, and untreated mental illness.
“Christa’s childhood was fraught with years of physical and sexual abuse and neglect,” her defense team stated, via CBS News. “With time and treatment, she has become a thoughtful woman with deep remorse for her crime.”
Psychological evaluations later diagnosed Pike with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, conditions her legal team argues should exempt her from capital punishment.
Tennessee’s history with the death penalty
Tennessee has a long history of using the death penalty, though executions have slowed significantly in recent years. After a three-year pause to review lethal injection drug testing, the state resumed capital punishment, carrying out its most recent execution in 2025.
Pike’s scheduled execution in 2026 has already sparked widespread debate. Supporters of the death penalty point to the brutality of her crime, while opponents highlight her traumatic upbringing and mental health issues as reasons for clemency.
Unless her appeals succeed, Pike is set to become a grim historical first for Tennessee in more than 200 years.