A convicted murderer made one final plea in the courtroom before she was led away after being sentenced to death.
Now, she has an execution date and is set to become the first woman in 200 years to be executed by the state of Tennessee.
Christa Pike committed a brutal murder in 1995
30 years ago, Christa Pike killed her classmate, then-19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
Pike was just 18 herself at the time, and became one of the youngest people ever to be sentenced to death when her sentence was handed down.
After the news that the Supreme Court in Tennessee has now set a date for her death, the case has come back to light.
If the date becomes a reality - and it's still not a certainty -Pike will be just the 19th woman in US history to receive the death penalty.
Pike’s crime was horrific
Assisted by her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and friend Shadolla Peterson, Pike lured Slemmer into the woods with the intention of quelling an argument over a relationship.
However, when she arrived, Slemmer was brutally attacked, beaten, stabbed, bludgeoned, and even had a pentagram carved into her chest, the state record shows.
Pike also reportedly kept a piece of Slammer’s skull that she would show off.
Within a matter of days, all three were arrested and Pike confessed to the killing. When a groundskeeper discovered the body, it ‘was so badly beaten that he had first mistaken it for the corpse of an animal’.
The jury didn’t take long to convict Pike.
She was sentenced to death by the electric chair, aged just 20.
Footage of her sentencing has now resurfaced, showing her making one final plea in the courtroom before being removed.
Pike’s final plea rings through the room
She burst into tears as the verdict was announced, before pleading: “Can I please hug my mom before I go?”
Her request was not allowed.
She also told her mom that she loved her before being led through the door.
In 2003, Pike had an extra 25 years added to her sentence after she tried to kill another inmate in her prison.
Her boyfriend Shipp was ineligible for the death penalty due to his age, instead receiving a life sentence.
Peterson received probation after testifying against Pike.
If her sentence is carried out, reports suggest it will be at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, but lawyers are attempting to get her sentence down to life without parole, due to her young age at the time and mental health issues.
They claim she would not be given the death penalty these days.
The date set for Pike’s execution is September 30 2026.