Story summary
Christa Pike, 50, is set for execution by lethal injection in Tennessee on Wednesday, becoming the first woman executed there in over 200 years. Pike was sentenced to death at age 18 after she and her boyfriend tortured and murdered Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old classmate from Knoxville Job Corps, in a jealous rage on January 12, 1995. The case garnered widespread attention due to the brutality of the crime and the presence of a satanic symbol carved into Slemmer’s body.
Pike's attorneys argue that she should not face execution given her history of severe sexual abuse as a child, untreated mental illness, and post-traumatic stress disorder. They have petitioned the US Supreme Court for a stay of execution but were denied by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who upheld Pike’s sentence after reviewing her clemency request.
Slemmer's mother, who has been waiting decades for justice, supports moving forward with the lethal injection despite Pike’s claims of mental health issues. If executed, Pike would be one of only 18 women put to death in the US since the 1970s, compared to over 1,600 men during that same period. Critics argue that current juries informed about Pike's background might not sentence her to death today. The case highlights ongoing debates around capital punishment and its appropriateness for crimes committed by minors with severe psychological trauma.
Written for “Tennessee Woman Execution” on 2026-10-04,
grounded in this article and the 136 other(s) covering the same event.
Mother of Christa Pike's victim speaks out following botched execution: 'I broke down in tears'
asserted
I → speak → tears
"I think that the state owes me a big apology," Colleen Slemmer's mother said.
asserted
mother → think → apology
The mother of the teenager murdered by Christa Pike said she believes she is owed an apology following this week's botched execution in Tennessee.
asserted
she → murder → Tennessee
Wednesday's execution attempt came 30 years after Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
asserted
Pike → come → Slemmer
Pike, 50, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, is in critical condition at a hospital and receiving "life-saving" care after her execution failed despite multiple lethal injections, her attorneys said Thursday.
asserted
attorneys → receive → injections
Slemmer's mother had traveled from her home in Orange Park, Florida, to Nashville with her husband for the execution, which got underway Wednesday night after a series of last-minute legal challenges.
asserted
which → travel → challenges
I broke down in tears," the victim's mother, May Martinez, told ABC Jacksonville affiliate WJXX over the phone on Thursday while traveling back home to Florida.
uncertain
mother → break → Florida
"She was laying on the table, talking, still laughing, picking up her head."
Asked if anyone has apologized to her about this, she told the station, "No, sir.
asserted
she → lay → station
Nobody apologized.
asserted
Nobody → apologize → ?
"I think that the state owes me a big apology," Martinez said.
asserted
Martinez → think → apology
"And as a mother, I failed her," she said.
asserted
she → fail → her
Witnesses to the execution said late Wednesday that authorities appeared to administer two rounds of lethal pentobarbital, but that Pike appeared to still be breathing an hour later when witnesses were escorted out of the chamber.
asserted
witnesses → say → chamber
Multiple witnesses said they could hear Pike breathing and snoring very loudly after the drugs were administered, even after the curtains were closed on the execution chamber.
uncertain
curtains → say → chamber
Martinez told WJXX she asked what would happen next and if Pike would go back to prison.
asserted
Pike → tell → prison
'I don't know what we're doing with her yet.'
asserted
we → know → her
That's the answer I got," she told the station.
asserted
she → get → station
"I said, 'Here we are, 31 years, and you're laughing in my face again,'" Martinez said.
asserted
Martinez → say → face
"And that's what I feel like they did."
asserted
they → feel → what
After Martinez publicly sought help with the cost of traveling to Nashville for the execution, the Jacksonville community helped raise more than $2,500, WJXX reported.
asserted
WJXX → seek → 2,500
"All I wanted was justice," Martinez told WJXX.
asserted
Martinez → want → WJXX
Randy Spivey, an attorney with the Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender, told reporters on Thursday that Pike was in critical condition and receiving "life-saving medical care."
asserted
Pike → tell → care
Pike's legal team has called on Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute her death sentence.
asserted
team → call → sentence
Following the botched execution, Lee said he has ordered a "third-party review" and that the state will not carry out any scheduled executions this year.
asserted
state → follow → executions
"So far as we know, the Department of Correction followed exactly the protocol as outlined," the governor told reporters on Thursday.
asserted
governor → know → Thursday
He said the state needs to know "why the outcome is different this time than ever before."
asserted
outcome → say → ?
"There is no one that wanted what happened last night to happen.
asserted
happened → be → ?
It shouldn't have happened," Lee said.
asserted
Lee → happen → ?
"The people of our state deserve to have those questions answered, and that's what this investigation is for," Lee said.
asserted
Lee → deserve → what
When asked what his message is to the families of Pike and Slemmer, Lee said, "This is a tragedy."
asserted
This → ask → Pike
"There is no one that wanted what happened last night to happen," he said.
asserted
he → be → ?
"It shouldn't have happened.
asserted
It → happen → ?
It's the most difficult of circumstances as it relates to a sentence that should have been carried out by the state.
asserted
that → relate → state
It's a tragedy, and it's deeply disturbing to me that that has happened in this state.
asserted
that → happen → state
The people deserve better than that, and we're going to make sure that happens."
asserted
that → deserve → that
Asked if he had spoken to Slemmer's family, the governor said he had not.
asserted
he → ask → family
In 1996, Pike was found guilty of first-degree murder for beating, torturing and killing Slemmer, a fellow Jobs Corps worker, in a remote area of the University of Tennessee Agricultural campus.
asserted
Pike → find → campus
Pike, who was 18 when she committed the crime, had told a friend she planned to kill Slemmer because she "just felt mean that day" and admitted to committing the crime with her then-17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, according to court filings.
uncertain
she → commit → filings
Shipp was also convicted of first-degree murder for his role in the killing and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
asserted
Shipp → convict → parole
The Aporia
