Sentenced to die by lethal injection on Sept. 30, Christa Pike's last hope is clemency.
That does not happen often.
Gaile Owens, sentenced to death since 1976, had her execution date cancelled in 2010 when then Gov. Phil Bredesen commuted her sentence to life with the possibility of parole. She had been convicted of hiring a hitman to kill her abusive husband.
The court did not hear evidence of the abuse, so Bredesen stepped in.
Owens was granted parole in 2011 and was released from prison.
Edward Jerome Harbison was convicted and sentenced to death for a 1983 murder. He robbed a house and hit the homeowner over the head with a vase. Bredesen, saying Harbison did not deserve the death penalty, commuted his death sentence in 2011 to life without the possibility
of parole.
Harbison is still in prison.
If she is executed, Pike will be the first woman in more than 200 years to be put to death by the state. She is the only person since 1976 in Tennessee who committed murder as a teenager who did not get her death sentence changed to life.
During a recent hearing in Knoxville, Pike's attorneys argued she has medical and psychological problems that should make it unconstitutional to execute her. Their arguments were rejected by a judge.
Pike's attorneys have scheduled a meeting with the governor's counsel one last time to plead their case.
"The governor should grant clemency and commute her sentence to life without parole," said Randy Spivey, a lawyer in the Tennessee Post-Conviction Defender's office.
Spivey said Pike's team wants her execution cancelled and that they also want her removed from isolation. Pike has been at the Debra K. Johnson Johnson Rehabilitation Center for almost 30 years.
She was convicted in the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer.
In a handwritten letter to The Tennessean, Pike took responsibility and said she's "changed drastically since I was a teenager."
"Think back to the worst mistake you made as a reckless teenager. Well, mine happened to be huge, unforgettable and ruined countless lives," she wrote. "I was a mentally ill 18 yr. 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 effected. I took the life of someone's child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think that someone as loving and compassionate as myself had the ability to commit such a crime."
Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, has said she would travel to Nashville for the execution of her daughter's killer.
"My daughter will never go to rest knowing all this is still happening," she told The Tennessean in 2023 regarding legal appeals.
While in prison, Pike was convicted for attempting to murder another inmate.
Spivey said he has hope Lee will reduce Pike's sentence.
"I believe in Christa," Spivey said. "I believe in the governor's courage. I believe Christa will live."
Spivey is part of the team that compiled a 226-page report asking Lee to reconsider Pike's sentence. The letters are from inmates and prison guards who know her, lawyers, mental health professionals, religious leaders, childhood friends and her parents.
Spivey wrote: "After you have read this letter and all the materials we provide here, I invite you to meet Christa. I invite you to spend some time with her. I can tell you about the person that Christa has become, but I invite you to come and see. You will encounter a kind, empathetic, and engaging woman who wants to help others. A woman who feels deep remorse for the pain she has caused, understands the mistakes she has made, and knows that others can learn from them. A woman who understands that she will never leave prison but knows she can be useful where she is. You will encounter a woman who is deserving of mercy."
The clemency petition has more than 100 pages of letters asking Lee to commute her sentence.
From her father, Glenn Pike: "I'm sending this letter to you, father to father, to ask you to have mercy on Christa and spare her life. I know you would do the same if our positions were reversed. Christa's life has not been the life I would want for her, or any father would want for his daughter. But everyone deserves mercy."
From her mother, Carissa Hansen: As her mother, the most important change in Christa's life has been the change in our relationship. I wasdistracted by work and men when Christa was a child. I did not know how to be a mother to such a difficult child. We are both different now. Christa is a loving daughter. She worries and cares for my husband and me. She has become a caring sister and aunt. My husband and I visit Christa every other week, and, despite the circumstances, those visits fill me with great joy. Governor Lee, I know you care deeply about your family. I do too. I voted for you and have been proud of how you have served Tennessee. I pray that you will show mercy to my family and to Christa. I can't imagine losing my daughter, not now, when I finally know how to help her. Not now when I can see the good she does for others. Please have mercy on Christa."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Scheduled for Sept. 30 execution, Christa Pike's last hope is clemency
