Christa Pike, the lone Tennessee woman on death row, breaks silence ahead of rare execution; here’s what she said

Christa Pike, the 50-year-old Tennessee woman who is set to be executed on Wednesday (September 30, 2026), has said that she is prepared to die but “nervous” about the execution process. She has been on a death row for over three decades for a killing she was convicted of in 1995. She along with her boyfriend, killed their 19-year-old classmate. In Tennessee, executions of female inmates are rare. Pike, who will be executed with lethal injection, is set to be the first woman in more than 200 years of the history of Tennessee to be put to death.

In a letter to NBC News, shared by her spiritual adviser, Pike wrote, “Whether my clemency is granted or not, I am at peace.” “I am not afraid to die; I’m only nervous about the process,” she wrote.

Details of Christa Pike’s gruesome crime

In 1995, Pike and her boyfriend were convicted of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. The victim was their classmate at Knoxville Job Corps. According to prosecutors, Pike was afraid Slemmer was a romantic rival and lured her to a secluded area where she and her boyfriend tortured and killed Slemmer, news agency AP reported. The gruesomeness of the killing and the ages of the people involved brought the case into the limelight and sent shockwaves across the city of Knoxville.

A satanic symbol was carved into the victim’s body. Prosecutors said Pike cut Slemmer with a box cutter and beat her with a large chunk of asphalt. Details and elements of the crime stoked fears of Satan worship during the “satanic panic” of the 1980s and 1990s, AP reported. Pike's boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp has also admitted that he was the one who carved a pentagram, a star-shaped symbol associated with Satanism, into her body.


Also Read: Christa Pike killed a 19-year-old girl in 1995 when she herself was 18 years old, now 31 years later she is set to become the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in 200 years; here are details of the gruesome crime


Pike has not denied her guilt, but her attorneys and supporters argue a death sentence is not appropriate for a crime committed at that age by a teen with untreated mental illness after a childhood of brutal sexual abuse and neglect. On the other hand, Slemmer’s mother, who waited for over three decades now, wants the lethal injection to go forward. She said that she has waited decades to see Pike’s sentence carried out.

No clemency for Christa Pike

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said on Monday (September 28, 2026) that Christa will not be granted clemency. Pike’s attorneys have asked the Supreme Court to stay the execution.