Christa Pike should not face the death penalty; her sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. That was the overwhelming sentiment of readers who responded to our Tennessean opinion poll posted on Friday, Sept. 25.
But that is now moot. The state of Tennessee is expected to execute Pike by lethal injection on Sept. 30 at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution for her role in the 1995 beating, torture and murder of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old Job Corps enrollee whom Pike believed was interested in her boyfriend.
“After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan
to intervene," Lee said in a Sept. 28 statement.
Unless there is a last-minute change, Pike will be the first woman executed in Tennessee in about 207 years. As her attorneys noted in a written statement responding to Lee's decision, she will also be the first person executed in the modern era for a crime committed as a teenager.
How readers answered our Christa Pike poll
When a commutation was still possible, we posed the following question to readers:
What should happen in the Christa Pike case?
- Execute her as scheduled.
- Commute her sentence to life without parole.
- Not sure.
Of the more than 112 responses we received in our unscientific poll, 102, or 91%, chose "Commute her sentence to life without parole." Nine respondents, or 8%, answered: "Execute her as scheduled." Only one reader responded, "Not sure." Many of our responses came from Tennesseans, but a good number came from beyond the Volunteer State, like California, Illinois, New York and Ontario, Canada.
Why some readers supported Pike's execution
Those who favored execution cited not only her role in Slemmer's killing, but also the fact that Pike was convicted of attempted first-degree murder of a fellow inmate five years after her conviction. The responses listed here have been edited for clarity.
Here's a sampling of the responses in favor of Pike's execution:
Gruesome, horrible crime over a boy. She attempted to kill again in prison. – Denise Wiggins, Franklin TN 37064
She committed a terrible act – Jeff Harris, Smyrna TN 37167
Crime warrants the punishment. – Nancy Canavan, Peoria AZ 85383
Many readers cited trauma, redemption and concerns about execution
The majority of poll respondents who favored a life sentence over execution cited the horrific rape, abuse and trauma Pike suffered as a child, as well as mental illness. Some cited moral grounds as to why the death penalty should be completely abolished.
Tennessee's documented violations of protocol in carrying out executions by lethal injection:
What Christa did was ugly. What we are doing to Christa is even uglier. – Carol Tures, Nashville TN 37215
I don't believe humans have the right to take another human life. Executing dehumanizes the executioner as much as the person convicted of taking another life. – Christy Smith, Nashville TN 37203
Crista Pike is as much a victim as the poor girl who died. I've read her personal and family history from her childhood to the time of this tragedy, when she was 18 years old…I'm 83 years of age now and I still remember working as a correctional officer inside the main prison in Nashville during my student years at [the now-closed] University of Tennessee at Nashville. I also remember reading the personal and family histories of men on death row. Many of them had tragic histories of abuse like Crista. But they were saved when the federal government repealed the death penalty. I want to ask the governor to set aside all ideology, political considerations and listen to his heart. Allow Crista to live. – Lester Blough, Parrish FL 34219
The death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent. Human beings who commit violent crimes, especially those who did so at a young age, have the potential to turn their lives around. – Guy Hicks, Nashville TN 37215
I am a Christian pastor. I believe in a God of redemption. I believe that it is not our place to take a life from a human that God is planning to redeem. Silencing her voice takes away the story of abuse turned into advocacy. – Monica Mowdy, Crossville TN 38555
If Christa receives life without parole, she will spend the rest of her life behind bars - permanently held accountable for the terrible harm she caused, while ensuring our legal system measures out justice with consistency, fairness and human decency. – Davis Turner, Nashville TN 37215
Tacuma R. Roeback is The Tennessean’s community engagement and opinion editor. Reach him at troeback@gannett.com or follow him onX,Bluesky orLinkedIn.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 91% of respondents said spare Christa Pike from execution | Opinion
