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Death row inmate set to become first woman executed by US state in over 200 years has issued one final plea
A death row inmate who will become the first woman executed by a US state in over 200 years has issued one final plea.
Christa Gail Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 after she, her boyfriend Tiddell Shipp, and friend Shadolla Peterson were convicted of murdering 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in a case that became known locally as the "Job Corps Murder".
Pike and Slemmer were both enrolled in a Knoxville job-training program for troubled teens.
Prosecutors argued Pike believed Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend.
According to court filings and trial testimony, Pike struck Slemmer with a piece of asphalt before dragging her into nearby woods, torturing her, and slitting her throat with a box cutter.
She was also accused of keeping a piece of Slemmer's skull as a souvenir following the killing.
Nearly three decades later, Pike, now 50, remains on death row and is due to be executed on September 30, 2026.
Pike's final plea before her execution
With Pike's execution approaching, her legal team is now asking Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Her attorneys said clemency would not erase her responsibility for Slemmer's murder.
"Commuting her sentence to life without possibility of parole does not absolve her of her guilt," her legal team wrote in a Thursday release. "To the contrary, it would continue to hold her accountable for the remainder of her natural life."
As part of their new clemency push, Pike's attorneys have highlighted her history of repeated sexual assaults, including childhood rapes, severe trauma, and untreated mental illness.
They argue that those experiences contributed to her actions on the night of Slemmer's murder, while stressing that they do not excuse the crime.
"These realities do not excuse what happened," Pike's legal team said. "But they are essential to understanding how such an unimaginable act became possible and how profoundly adults and institutions failed to support a child in desperate need."
Attorney Kelly Gleason also said Pike now has "deep remorse for her actions" after receiving treatment for bipolar disorder and PTSD.
"We call on the governor to consider the tragedy of Christa’s childhood and the way in which the adults and institutions charged with her care consistently failed to protect a vulnerable child," Gleason said in the release. "We respectfully urge Governor Lee show Christa mercy."
Pike challenged Tennessee's lethal injection protocol
The clemency request comes after Pike separately challenged the method Tennessee intends to use to execute her.
Her legal team argued that her blood condition, thrombocytosis, could cause unconstitutional suffering when she is given a lethal dose of pentobarbital.
They also claimed Pike has small and compromised veins that could make inserting an IV more painful.
However, following proceedings in Knox County in August, Senior Judge Mark Ward largely rejected those challenges.
Ward said Pike's condition would not prevent an IV from being started, while experts said she would lose consciousness within 20 to 30 seconds after receiving the lethal dose, before she could experience pain.
The court also found little evidence to support the claim that Pike's veins were too small for an IV, pointing to medical records showing previous attempts to draw her blood had been successful.
"At most, Ms. Pike has shown that she could experience some unknown amount of pain from peripheral IV access, but no more than any other person would," Ward said.
Pike's legal team contended that using a deeper central line IV or executing her by hanging would be more humane.
Ward concluded that a central line would amount to a small modification rather than a different method of execution.
He also said hanging would be more dangerous and painful, and the state prison system no longer has the equipment or trained staff to carry it out.
Pike, who is Buddhist, also sought permission for her religious advisor to be present in the execution room. Ward said that an agreement allowing the advisor to be there had already been reached before the hearing.
Pike's planned transfer to Riverbend Maximum Security Prison in Nashville 24 hours before her execution will also be accommodated.