Christa Pike, 50, is scheduled to be executed this Wednesday, September 30, in the state of Tennessee. Pike was convicted for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a crime she committed when she was 18 years old.
The execution, if it proceeds, would make Pike the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in over 200 years. While 1,663 men have been executed in the United States since the 1970s, only 18 women have faced the death penalty during that same period, according to reports.
The 1995 Murder of Colleen Slemmer
In 1995, Pike tortured and killed Colleen Slemmer alongside a boyfriend she met at a training camp for troubled youth. The crime caused a mediastorm in Knoxville, Tennessee, particularly after Slemmer was discovered with a pentagram carved into her chest.
Pike claimed that Slemmer had insulted her and attempted to take her boyfriend. During the legal process, two other residents of the camp testified that Pike bragged about the murder and showed them a piece of Slemmer’s skull. Pike was convicted a year later. Her accomplice at the time, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Protests and Legal Appeals
Pike’s defense team is seeking a last-minute stay of execution and has submitted a 226-page petition for clemency. Support for Pike has also come from United Nations human rights experts, who have called for the execution to be stopped. Amnesty International has hosted a page for protest emails, with a counter indicating more than 21,000 messages have been sent.
Arguments in favor of clemency cite that Pike was neglected, abused, and sexually abused, and that authorities were aware of this history.
Family Reaction
The mother of Colleen Slemmer has expressed her desire for the execution to move forward, stating that she wants her daughter to “finally find peace.”