Tennessee’s scheduled execution of Christa Gail Pike, who committed a murder at 18, was stopped just an hour before it was to take place. This pause came as a federal appeals court wanted to review whether her claims of childhood sexual abuse and rape were thoroughly considered during her sentencing. This would have marked the first time in at least 200 years that the state executed a woman.
Pike, now 50, and her boyfriend were found guilty of brutally attacking their 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer, at a job training facility in Knoxville back in 1995. The case gained significant attention due to a pentagram carved on the victim’s body, fueling fears of Satan worship during the “satanic panic” era of the 1980s and 1990s.
It remains unclear whether Tennessee’s attorney general is appealing the decision or how long the delay in the execution might last. The order to halt the execution was issued around 9 a.m. CDT while witnesses were already present at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
As the execution date approached, it reignited discussions on imposing the death penalty on young offenders. Pike does not dispute her involvement in the crime, but her supporters argue that factors such as her age at the time, mental health issues, and a history of severe sexual abuse, including being raped since childhood, should be considered by the state.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused a request to halt Pike’s execution, and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee denied her clemency. In a statement included in her clemency petition, Pike expressed remorse for her actions, stating that it took her years to grasp the gravity of her crime.
Slemmer’s mother is in favor of proceeding with the lethal injection, expressing her long-awaited desire to see Pike’s sentence carried out. She mentioned that a group assisted in raising funds for her and her husband to witness the execution.
The killing in 1995 deeply impacted Knoxville, with prosecutors revealing that Pike, suspecting Slemmer of trying to steal her boyfriend, led her to a wooded area where the fatal attack took place. Pike inflicted injuries on Slemmer with a box cutter and assaulted her with a large piece of asphalt. Pike’s boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, admitted to carving a pentagram into Slemmer’s body and received a life sentence with parole eligibility. Pike, on the other hand, received a death sentence.
According to Robin M. Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, Tennessee has not executed a woman for over 200 years. Since 1976, only 18 women have been executed in the U.S., making up about one percent of all executions. The most recent case was in Missouri in 2023, where Amber McLaughlin, a transgender woman, was executed for a 2003 murder. In 2021, the federal government executed Lisa Montgomery, marking the first female inmate execution in almost seven decades.
