Who is Christa Pike? Is Christa Pike going to be executed? Here's what to know about the Tennessee woman on death row and the crime she committed back in 1995

Christa Pike was hours away from becoming the first woman executed in Tennessee in at least 200 years when a federal appeals court stepped in and halted her execution. Pike, now 50, has spent three decades on death row for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. The case has drawn renewed attention because Pike was 18 when the killing happened and because her attorneys say her history of severe childhood sexual abuse and mental illness was not properly considered, as per reports by the Washington Post and The AP.

Who is Christa Pike?

Christa Pike was a teenager when she became involved in the killing of Slemmer, a classmate at a Knoxville job training facility. Prosecutors said Pike believed Slemmer was interested in her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp.


On Jan. 12, 1995, Pike, Shipp and another teenage girl, Shadolla Peterson, lured Slemmer to a wooded area in Knoxville. According to court records and trial testimony, Slemmer was beaten and repeatedly cut with a knife. Pike admitted hitting her with a piece of asphalt, cutting her throat and taking part of her skull as a souvenir. Shipp, who was 17 at the time, later admitted he carved a pentagram into Slemmer’s body. The crime became widely known in Knoxville and drew attention during the period of “satanic panic” in the 1980s and 1990s.

Of the three teenagers involved, Pike was the only one sentenced to death. Shipp received life in prison with the possibility of parole because he was 17. Peterson testified against Pike and Shipp and received probation.

Pike was also later convicted of attempted first degree murder for an August 2001 assault on another inmate.

Did Christa Pike get executed yet?

Christa Pike’s execution was scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. About an hour before it was due to happen, the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals halted it in a 2-1 decision.

The court wanted more time to examine whether Pike’s history of childhood sexual abuse and rape had been fully considered when she was sentenced to death.

Her attorneys have described years of abuse, including sexual assaults beginning when she was a young child. They also pointed to her diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Pike has not denied killing Slemmer. In a statement included in her clemency effort, she said, “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.”

Her attorneys and supporters asked Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison, but he rejected her clemency petition. Tennessee immediately appealed the stay to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Colleen Slemmer’s family has waited decades

Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, has continued to support the death sentence. She told The Associated Press that she and her husband traveled from Florida to Tennessee hoping to witness the execution.

“Every time I think about it, I think about Colleen feeling that pain and trying to get up and run,” Martinez said.

“Not a day goes by, or a minute goes by that I do not think about Colleen. Holidays are the worst,” she said.

Pike’s case has also become part of the broader debate over executions involving young offenders. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, only 18 women have been executed in the U.S. since 1976, making up about 1% of all executions.

FAQs

Who is Christa Pike?
Christa Pike is a Tennessee death row inmate convicted of killing classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995.

Why was her execution halted?
A federal appeals court paused the execution to review whether her history of sexual abuse was properly considered.