Tennessee is set to execute a woman for the first time in 200 years
Her lawyers say severe childhood abuse and mental illness should have led to life in prison, not death.
- On Monday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee denied clemency for Christa Pike, stating he will not intervene in her execution scheduled for Wednesday, September 30.
- Pike was convicted for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, whom she lured to a secluded area; her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, received life with parole eligibility.
- Defense attorneys, including Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell, argue Pike was an 18-year-old with untreated mental illness and childhood abuse, contending her death sentence is an outlier.
- Execution would mark Tennessee's first of a woman in more than 200 years, highlighting rarity, while legal teams have questioned the state's lethal injection protocol and medical staff competency.
- Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, insists the execution proceed so her daughter "finally can be resting," while Pike's attorneys have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay.
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283 Articles
Tennessee, in the southeastern United States, is about to execute a woman for the first time in 200 years. The execution is scheduled for Thursday, October 1. Christa Pike has been on death row for 31 years, after his conviction for the murder of a classmate.
On Wednesday, September 30, 2026, the State of Tennessee is preparing to write a dark page in its modern judicial history with the execution of Christa Pike The post No Mercy for Christa Pike: The First Woman to Be Executed in 200 Years – “Satanist” appeared first on in.gr.
(LPL) – Tennessee Governor Bill Lee rejected Christa Pike’s petition for clemency, the only woman currently on state death row, leaving the execution scheduled for this Wednesday, September 30th. Pike, 50, is sentenced to death for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, who [...]
When she was 18 years old, the American Christa Pike killed together with her boyfriend Colleen Slemmer, a classmate of theirs. For that murder she was sentenced to death and now, after 31 years, she risks being remembered for a sad primacy: except surprises, tomorrow she will be the first woman to be executed in Tennessee after 200 years. Governor Bill [...] The article U.S., denied the grace to Christa Pike: she was sentenced to death for a cr…
What to know about Christa Pike, first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years
Christa Pike is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday in Tennessee. If it proceeds as planned, she would be the first woman executed in Tennessee since at least 1820.
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