Christa Pike is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in less than a week, on Sept. 30, 2026.
If it proceeds, she will become the first woman executed in Tennessee in about 207 years.
Why Pike's advocates oppose her execution
Her advocates have argued that Pike, who was 18 at the time of the crime, does not deserve the death penalty for the murder of Colleen Slemmer.
Her legal team says the jury that convicted her did so without knowing about the rape and abuse she endured as a child. Jurors were also unaware of Pike's undiagnosed mental illnesses and the brain damage she suffered, her attorneys said.
All of that led a clinical psychologist to conclude that Pike "experienced more severe adverse events than 99% of the U.S. population."
Her attorneys also contend that her sentence was
disproportionate to those received by her co-defendants.
According to court testimony, Tadaryl Shipp and Shadolla Peterson, along with Pike, lured Slemmer into a wooded area. Pike and Shipp beat, tortured and murdered the 19-year-old. Shipp, who was 17 at the time of the crime, was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy but did not receive the death penalty because Tennessee law exempted him due to his age. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.
Peterson became an informant and testified against Pike and Shipp. She received probation instead of prison time.
Why prosecutors pursued the death penalty
Regardless of where Tennesseans stand on Pike's sentence, the facts of Slemmer's murder remain deeply disturbing. A pentagram was carved into Slemmer's chest. Pike took a piece of her skull as a souvenir after the killing. Prosecutors said Pike believed Slemmer was interested in Shipp, who was Pike's boyfriend at the time.
Prosecutors argued that Pike should receive the death penalty because of the exceptionally brutal nature of the killing. She has remained on death row since her 1996 conviction.
Her attorneys, however, argue that Pike's sentence was handed down before the effects of childhood trauma and adolescent brain development were fully understood.
Appeals continue as execution nears
This week, the Tennessee Supreme Court declined to stop Pike's scheduled lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Her execution appears imminent unless clemency is granted.
As of this writing, Pike's attorneys planned to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
After years of mental health treatment, Pike's advocates say the now 50-year-old woman is deeply remorseful for her role in Slemmer's murder.
On the advocacy group's website, Mercy for Christa, the following quote from Pike is featured prominently:
"There is no excuse for what I did. There are reasons for the way that I acted, but nothing excuses the crime and the damage it has caused to so many lives."
We'd like to hear from you. What should happen in the Christa Pike case? Should she receive the death penalty or have her sentence commuted to life without parole?
Take our poll.
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: Should Tennessee execute Christa Pike? Take our poll | Opinion
