A US state is set to execute a female death row inmate for a gruesome crime, marking the first time this has happened in more than 200 years.
Christa Gail Pike, 49, will be put to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
Pike’s case shocked the nation due to the brutality of the crime and the chilling acts she committed in its aftermath.
The Chilling Crime
The then 18-year-old lured Slemmer to the woods near the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville on January 12, 1995, alongside her boyfriend, Tadaryl Ship, and friend Shadolla Peterson. Prosecutors claimed that Pike believed the 19-year-old victim had tried to steal Shipp, which led to the horrific attack.
During the assault, Pike cut Slemmer with a box cutter, struck her with a cleaver, and crushed her skull with a piece of asphalt. A pentagram was carved into Slemmer’s chest.
A groundskeeper later discovered her body and recalled that the teen was “so badly beaten that he had first mistaken [her body] for the corpse of an animal,” according to court records.
After the gruesome murder, Pike collected a fragment of Slemmer’s skull, showing it off to classmates and bragging about the killing. She admitted to continuing the violence even when Slemmer “begged” her to stop.
Convictions and Sentences
Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death, becoming the youngest person on Tennessee’s death row at the age of 20.
Shipp, convicted of first-degree murder as well, was sentenced to life in prison and will be eligible for parole in November. Peterson, who allegedly kept watch during the attack, testified against Pike and received probation.
In a letter to The Tennessean, Pike acknowledged the gravity of her actions, writing: “Think back to the worst mistake you made as a reckless teenager. Well, mine happened to be huge, unforgettable, and ruined countless lives… I took the life of someone's child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think that someone as loving and compassionate as myself had the ability to commit such a crime.”
Scheduled Execution
The Tennessee Supreme Court has scheduled Pike’s execution for September 30, 2026, at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
By August 28, 2026, the Department of Corrections must notify Pike of the method to be used. If carried out, Pike would become just the 19th woman executed in modern U.S. history and the first woman executed in Tennessee since the early 19th century.
Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, described the rarity of such executions: “Only 18 women have been executed since 1976… It’s extremely rare," per USA Today.
Pike is one of only 48 female death row inmates in the United States, compared to nearly 2,100 male inmates.
Tennessee has executed very few women in its history. Pike’s attorneys cite records of only three women executed between 1807 and 1819, all Black women and likely enslaved, with only one name, Molly Holcomb, documented. Deaths at that time were often unjust, resulting from false accusations or the oppressive system of slavery.
The inmate's legal team has argued that if she were tried today, she would likely not receive the death penalty due to her age and mental health struggles at the time of the crime.
"Christa’s childhood was fraught with years of physical and sexual abuse and neglect," her legal team said in a statement. "With time and treatment for bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders, which were not diagnosed until years later, Christa has become a thoughtful woman with deep remorse for her crime."
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, has expressed unwavering support for Pike’s execution, telling WBIR-TV in 2021, “I just want Christa down so I can end it, relieve my daughter, so she finally can be resting. There’s not a day goes by that I don’t think about Colleen or how she died and how rough it was.”
Women represent only about 1% of modern executions in the United States, with 18 executed since 1976 compared to 1,623 men, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The last execution of a woman in the US was Amber McClaughlin in 2023, who became the first transgender person executed in the nation.