Story summary
On September 28, 2023, Christa Pike, a woman sentenced to death for murdering her classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995 when she was 18 years old, is set to be executed by lethal injection. This execution will mark the first time Tennessee has put a female inmate to death in over 200 years. Pike and her boyfriend tortured and killed Slemmer out of jealousy; the case gained widespread attention due to its brutality and the carving of a satanic symbol into Slemmer's body.
Pike does not deny her guilt but argues that her childhood history of sexual abuse and neglect, as well as her mental health issues, should have prevented a death sentence. Her attorneys filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court for clemency on grounds related to PTSD and potential psychological trauma from lethal injection procedures. However, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee rejected Pike’s request for clemency.
Slemmer's mother has been campaigning for decades for Pike’s execution to proceed. The case highlights ongoing debates about capital punishment in the United States, particularly concerning juveniles and those with documented histories of abuse and mental health conditions. Only 18 women have been executed since the 1970s compared to 1,663 men, underscoring the rarity and controversial nature of female executions in modern American history.
Written for “Tennessee Woman Execution” on 2026-10-04,
grounded in this article and the 137 other(s) covering the same event.
Tennessee is set to execute a woman for the first time in more than 200 years on Wednesday, after the United States Supreme Court rejected a last-minute bid to halt it.
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Court → set → it
Christa Pike, 50, who was convicted of torturing and killing a classmate when she was 18, is due to die by lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, but according to a report by The New York Post, she has asked to be shot by an all-female firing squad instead.
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she → convict → squad
So why does she fear lethal injection, and how does the US put people to death?
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US → fear → death
Here’s what you need to know:
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you → ’ → what
What was Christa Pike convicted of?
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Pike → convict → What
Pike was found guilty of the murder of another young woman she viewed as a romantic rival more than 30 years ago.
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she → find → rival
In January 1995, Pike, her 17-year-old boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and 18-year-old Shadolla Peterson lured Colleen Slemmer, 19, into a wooded area and tortured and killed her.
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Pike → lure → her
The case attracted huge public interest, especially after it was revealed that the attackers had carved a pentagram into Slemmer’s chest, which Shipp later admitted to carving.
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Shipp → attract → which
Pike kept a piece of Slemmer’s skull.
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Pike → keep → skull
Pike and Shipp confessed and were convicted of first-degree murder in 1996.
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Pike → confess → 1996
Pike was sentenced to death; Shipp received life with the possibility of parole.
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Shipp → sentence → parole
“Christa is a 50-year-old remorseful woman who understands her actions,” her lawyers wrote.
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lawyers → understand → actions
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, has spoken in support of the execution.
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mother → speak → execution
Why does Pike not want a lethal injection?
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Pike → want → injection
Her legal team and trauma experts say it could force her to relive abuse she suffered in childhood.
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she → say → childhood
Her clemency petition documents childhood violence, neglect and sexual abuse, including rapes when she was aged 11 and 17.
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she → document → rapes
It also cites her diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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It → cite → disorder
Sexual violence and trauma experts argue that the procedures around lethal injection would likely trigger severe flashbacks of that abuse.
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procedures → argue → abuse
Her legal team also argues that she has small veins and a blood condition that could make it difficult to place an IV line, a claim the state disputes.
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state → argue → line
In May, Tennessee prison officials abandoned the execution of another prisoner, Tony Carruthers, after failing to find a suitable vein.
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officials → abandon → vein
According to The New York Post, Pike’s lawyers said she also fears a painful death by lethal injection.
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she → accord → injection
The paper reported that she wants to be shot by an all-female firing squad, with members of Slemmer’s family among the witnesses.
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she → report → witnesses
Tennessee is not among the five states that authorise the firing squad.
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that → authorise → squad
In court in August, her lawyers proposed hanging instead, noting it was the method Tennessee last used to execute a woman.
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Tennessee → propose → woman
The state opposed that, saying Tennessee has neither the equipment nor the legal authority to carry it out.
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Tennessee → oppose → it
The judge sided with the state but allowed for the possibility of an all-female execution team.
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judge → side → team
Tennessee also allows prisoners whose crimes predate January 1999 to choose the electric chair; Pike’s crime took place in 1995.
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crime → allow → 1995
What do her lawyers argue?
That she should not be executed at all.
Pike’s petition asked the governor to commute her sentence to life without parole.
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petition → argue → parole
It pointed to evidence that her mother drank heavily during pregnancy, impairing Pike’s brain development and her impulse control.
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mother → point → development
“The 18-year-old girl suffering from severe mental illness and near-debilitating trauma no longer exists,” her lawyers wrote.
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lawyers → suffer → illness
She would be the only person to be executed in modern-era Tennessee for a crime committed as a teenager.
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She → execute → teenager
Her lawyer, Stephen Ferrell, said scientists now understand far more about adolescent brain development and that her sentence was an outlier.
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sentence → say → development
Governor Bill Lee has denied clemency, however.
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Lee → deny → clemency
A group of United Nations human rights experts has called for her sentence to be commuted.
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sentence → call → experts
The US almost never executes women.
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US → execute → ?
Women account for 18 of the 1,683 people executed since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976 – just over 1 percent.
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punishment → account → percent
Tennessee has executed just 17 people in that time before Wednesday, with Pike the only woman on its death row.
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Pike → execute → row
If the execution goes ahead, it will be the state’s first execution of a woman since 1820, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
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it → go → Center
What rules do different states have?
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states → have → rules
There are 27 states with the death penalty, although four have placed its use on hold.
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four → be → hold
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
