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.
A Tennessee death row inmate remained unconscious on a ventilator Friday after surviving the state's failed attempt to execute her this week, as her attorneys accused prison officials of ignoring months of warnings that the lethal injection could go catastrophically wrong.
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injection → remain → warnings
Christa Pike was scheduled to be executed for the 1995 torture killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
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Pike → schedule → Slemmer
She would have become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years before Wednesday night's execution attempt failed.
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attempt → become → years
Pike's attorneys filed an emergency motion in Davidson County Chancery Court seeking an order requiring the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence related to what they described as the state's "botched attempted execution."
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they → file → execution
They argue the records are critical to determining what happened, protecting Pike's legal rights and ensuring accountability.
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what → argue → accountability
"Christa remains critically ill and is receiving medical care for the devastating effects of Wednesday night's events," attorneys Stephen Ferrell and Luke Ihnen said in a statement Friday.
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Ferrell → remain → statement
"As detailed in today's filing, Christa remains hospitalized following Wednesday night's failed execution attempt.
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Christa → detail → attempt
"She is critically ill, unconscious, intubated and receiving breathing assistance through a ventilator," they added.
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they → intubate → ventilator
"She is being treated for the serious effects of the pentobarbital administered during the execution attempt, including significant injuries to both arms."
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She → treat → arms
The emergency motion paints a far more detailed picture of what Pike's attorneys say unfolded inside the execution chamber.
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attorneys → paint → chamber
Pike’s team contends the execution team struggled to establish IV access, using at least seven needles before administering two lethal doses of pentobarbital.
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team → contend → pentobarbital
The filing also alleges Pike suggested where staff should try inserting the IV, one needle bent at a 90-degree angle when it was removed, and she could be heard crying, whimpering and breathing loudly throughout the procedure.
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she → allege → procedure
Pike also allegedly told those carrying out the execution, "My arm feels like it's about to burst open," before later asking, "Does this happen like that?"
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this → tell → that
The motion says Pike arrived at the hospital with both arms "swollen, burned, and blistered."
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arms → say → hospital
It also says medical experts have compared pentobarbital to "bleach" or "Drano," describing it as a highly caustic substance capable of burning skin, tissue and veins.
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experts → say → skin
Pike's attorneys contend none of those complications should have come as a surprise.
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none → contend → surprise
Months before the execution, they warned the state that Pike's thrombocytosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, small veins and history of difficult needle insertion made it significantly more likely prison officials would struggle to establish and maintain IV access.
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officials → warn → access
They also warned improper delivery of pentobarbital could result in "serious illness, needless suffering, and/or prolonged or lingering death.
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delivery → warn → illness
"Her concerns were called 'speculation'; they were laughed off, scoffed at, and dismissed," the motion states.
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motion → call → ?
"In the words of one media witness: we have a lot of questions and the Department of Correction has a lot of answers that it needs to provide to the public about what happened here.
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what → have → public
We agree."
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We → agree → ?
The attorneys further contend the execution team failed to recognize that Pike's IV lines had failed before administering another dose of pentobarbital.
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lines → contend → pentobarbital
"Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms. Pike's body," the motion states.
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motion → realize → body
"Instead of remedying this failure, TDOC elected to prepare a backup set of syringes (if they were not also prepared earlier that day) and then administered another lethal dose of pentobarbital.
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they → remedy → pentobarbital
The attorneys argue preserving evidence from the execution attempt is now critical as the case moves forward.
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case → argue → attempt
"In light of the manifest violation of Ms. Pike's constitutional rights, the actionable nature of that violation, and the reasonable foreseeability of litigation, the Defendants have an affirmative duty to preserve all relevant physical, written, and electronic evidence," the motion states.
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motion → have → evidence
Fox News Digital reached out to the Tennessee Department of Correction and the Tennessee Attorney General's Office for comment.
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Digital → reach → comment
"The Governor has appropriately called for an investigation.
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Governor → call → investigation
We need to know what happened," a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said.
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spokesperson → need → Office
The Aporia
