Tennessee set to execute Christa Pike, first woman on death row in two centuries

Christa Pike, now 50, is slated for execution by lethal injection in Tennessee on September 30, which would make her the first woman put to death in the state in more than 200 years. Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a crime she committed with her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp, who received a life sentence.

Pike’s attorneys have filed a 226-page clemency petition arguing that her childhood was marked by extensive physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and PTSD while incarcerated. They contend that these factors were not fully presented at trial and that a contemporary jury would likely not impose the death penalty on a teenager with such a background.

The petition has been rejected by the Tennessee Supreme Court, and a federal appeals court ruled that the jury had already heard about Pike’s difficult upbringing during the original trial. Governor Bill Lee, who has never granted clemency in a death-penalty case, has not indicated whether he will intervene.

Colleen Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, has publicly supported the execution, stating that she wants Pike to “pay for it” and that the execution would allow her daughter to “finally rest.” Victims-rights group the Justice Coalition has raised funds for Martinez to travel to the execution.

Pike has requested that the execution team be all-female, citing trauma associated with being restrained by men. Tennessee officials have said female guards will be involved in transferring her but have not guaranteed an all-female execution team.

Human-rights experts and some legal scholars have called for a halt to the execution, describing Pike’s case as “uniquely compelling” because of the combination of severe abuse, mental illness and youth at the time of the crime. The case echoes that of Lisa Montgomery, who was also executed after similar arguments failed to secure clemency.

If the execution proceeds, Pike will join a small group of women executed in the United States since the 1970s, a stark contrast to the thousands of men who have been put to death.