Christa Pike, the only woman currently on Tennessee’s death row, is approaching a scheduled execution that would make her the first woman put to death by the state in more than two centuries.
Pike, 50, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday. In a letter shared with NBC News through her spiritual adviser, she said she is prepared for death but remains anxious about the execution procedure itself.
“Whether my clemency is granted or not, I am at peace,” Pike wrote. “I am not afraid to die. I’m only nervous about the process.”
Gov. Bill Lee has decided not to intervene and will allow Pike’s death sentence to proceed. Her attorneys have now turned to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to stop the execution.
The 1995 Killing
Pike was 18 when she was convicted in connection with the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old classmate from a Job Corps training program in Knoxville.
According to police and court records, Pike and two other teenagers took Slemmer to an abandoned steam plant near the University of Tennessee, where she was attacked and fatally beaten. The case received widespread attention because investigators said a pentagram had been carved into Slemmer’s chest and Pike had claimed to have kept part of the victim’s skull.
Pike has never disputed her involvement in Slemmer’s death. Her attorneys, however, argue that important information about her childhood was not presented to the jury that sentenced her to death.
They say Pike experienced years of physical and sexual abuse and suffered severe trauma from a very young age. Her legal team argues that this history, along with her age at the time of the crime, could have affected the outcome if it had been fully presented during her original case.
Defense Challenges Execution
Pike’s attorneys have asked the Supreme Court to halt the execution, arguing that her history of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder could make Tennessee’s lethal-injection procedure particularly distressing for her.
The state has not disputed that Pike experienced abuse. However, Tennessee officials argued in a recent court filing that an earlier judge had already determined that claims about additional psychological suffering from the execution procedure were speculative.
Lee said he made his decision after considering Pike’s case and declined to commute her sentence. Her attorneys said they were deeply disappointed by the decision.
Pike’s lawyers have also highlighted the different sentences received by the other people involved in Slemmer’s killing.
Tadaryl Shipp, Pike’s boyfriend at the time, was 17 and received a life sentence because he was a juvenile. He later testified that he was the person who carved the pentagram into Slemmer’s chest. The third participant, Shadolla Peterson, was 18 and served as a lookout before receiving probation in exchange for cooperating with authorities.
Pike’s attorneys argue that modern understanding of adolescent brain development could also have made her age a more significant factor in sentencing if the case were being handled today.
Decades Behind Bars
Pike has spent more than 30 years in prison. After her conviction, she was initially sentenced to death by electrocution, which was Tennessee’s primary execution method at the time.
Her lawyers say Pike’s behavior and outlook have changed considerably during her years in prison. A psychologist who evaluated her case for the defense concluded that Pike experienced extensive childhood trauma and that adults around her repeatedly failed to protect her.
The psychologist, Bethany Brand, told NBC News that treatment and medication had helped Pike significantly and that she now shows empathy and deep regret over Slemmer’s death.
Pike herself has acknowledged that it took years for her to fully understand the seriousness of what she had done.
Slemmer’s Family Still Seeks Justice
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, has rejected the argument that Pike’s transformation should change the outcome.
Martinez has described the lasting pain caused by her daughter’s death and the difficult process of receiving portions of Slemmer’s remains that had been retained as evidence.
She has said she does not want direct communication with Pike and views the execution as the remaining form of justice available to her family.
The case has therefore left two very different perspectives: Pike’s defense emphasizes her traumatic childhood and decades of change in prison, while Slemmer’s family continues to focus on the brutality of the crime and its lasting impact.
Plans for the Execution
Because executions of women are extremely rare in Tennessee, corrections officials have made arrangements intended to accommodate some of Pike’s requests.
Female officers are expected to accompany Pike during her transfer from the women’s prison in Nashville to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Officials may also use an all-female execution team.
A male physician, Dr. Mark Walton Fowler, is expected to participate despite his involvement in a failed lethal injection earlier this year. That execution was halted after officials were unable to establish a suitable vein.
Pike’s spiritual adviser, Buddhist teacher Rev. Mikey Noechel, is also expected to be present. He plans to meditate and recite a Buddhist loving-kindness prayer with Pike before the execution.
Noechel said Pike has openly discussed her crime, death and the impact on Slemmer’s family while preparing for the possibility of her own execution.
In her letter, Pike said the support she has received recently has meant a great deal to her.
“I am humbled beyond words,” she wrote.
