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Inmate set to become first woman executed by US state in 200 years gave chilling reason why she shouldn’t be put to death - execution date set for this year
Christa Gail Pike has spent nearly 30 years behind bars since being sent to death row in Tennessee for the murder of her classmate.
Pike was just 20 when a jury convicted her of torturing and killing Colleen Slemmer in a remote woodland near Knoxville in 1995.
Now, Tennessee has set Pike’s execution date for September 30, 2026, making her the first woman to be executed in the state in over 200 years and only the 19th woman executed in the United States since 1976.
The brutal nature of the crime shocked the community. Slemmer, then 19, was beaten, stabbed, bludgeoned and had a pentagram carved into her chest.
A groundskeeper first thought the remains were those of an animal. Pike’s case has drawn fresh attention because of her arguments against execution decades after the crime.
Pike has spoken out about her sentence and accepts that she “deserves” to be in prison for life.
Pike’s claims about who deserves to die
“I know I don't deserve to be out walking around with everybody else in normal society. I did something horrible that is unacceptable and I realize that,” she said from her prison cell in a WEtv documentary. However Pike also says she does not “deserve” to die for what she calls “the action of three individuals.” She has repeated, “I'm only one person.”
Her comments highlight that others were involved in the crime. Pike’s then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, was convicted of first-degree murder for his role but avoided the death penalty because he was 17 at the time.
He received a life sentence and will be eligible for parole in November. Another accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, claimed she only watched and later testified against Pike. Peterson was sentenced to probation.
Legal arguments from Pike’s defense
Attorneys for Pike have argued that her execution date should be delayed indefinitely and that she should instead serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. They contend that if Pike were tried now, a jury would likely not support the death penalty for someone who was 18 at the time of the offence.
Her legal team has also raised Pike’s troubled childhood, stating her early years included “years of physical and sexual abuse and neglect,” and that this background was not heard by the court in 1996.
The debate over Pike’s fate raises complex questions about sentencing for young offenders and how past cases are viewed through modern legal standards.