NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee is preparing to execute Christa Gail Pike, who, at the age of 18, committed a murder in 1995. This event marks the first execution of a woman in Tennessee in over 200 years.
Pike, now 50 years old, is set to be executed by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. The crime involved the brutal stabbing and beating of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate of Pike’s at a job training facility in Knoxville.
The case drew significant attention back in 1995, partly due to the gruesome nature of the crime, which included a pentagram carved into Slemmer’s body. This incident played into the fears of Satan worship that were prevalent during the “satanic panic” period of the 1980s and 1990s. As the execution date approaches, discussions around the death penalty for young offenders have been reignited.
Pike acknowledges her role in the murder but her supporters argue that her young age, mental health issues, and a history of severe sexual abuse should be taken into account. Pike’s attorney, Stephen Ferrell, pointed out that other 18-year-olds sentenced to death in Tennessee have had their sentences overturned, suggesting that Pike’s case is unusual.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request from Pike’s legal team to delay the execution. Additionally, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee declined to grant her clemency on Monday.
In a statement included in her clemency petition, Pike expressed remorse: “I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid. It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I’d done. Even more to accept how many lives I affected. I took the life of someone’s child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a crime.”
Colleen Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, has been waiting decades for justice and wants the execution to proceed. “Every time I think about it, I think about Colleen feeling that pain and trying to get up and run,” she shared in a phone interview. Martinez’s family raised funds to travel from Florida to witness the execution.
The tragic events of January 12, 1995, rocked Knoxville. Prosecutors contended that Pike, fearing Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend, lured her to a wooded area. There, Pike used a box cutter and beat Slemmer with a chunk of asphalt. Pike’s boyfriend, who was 17 at the time, later admitted to carving the pentagram into Slemmer’s body. He received a life sentence with the possibility of parole, while Pike was the only one sentenced to death.
According to Robin M. Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, Tennessee has not executed a woman for at least 200 years. It’s challenging to verify details about the last woman executed due to spotty historical records.
Nationally, executions of women are rare. Since 1976, only 18 women have been executed in the United States, accounting for about 1% of all executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The most recent case involved Amber McLaughlin in Missouri in 2023, which is believed to be the first execution of a transgender woman in U.S. history. In 2021, the federal government executed Lisa Montgomery, marking the first execution of a female inmate in nearly 70 years.
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Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama.
