Christa Pike, now 50, is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on September 30, 2026, nearly 31 years after the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Tennessee’s Department of Correction continues to list the execution for 10 a.m. at Riverbend Maximum Security Insтιтution.

Pike was 18 when Slemmer was k#lled. She was later convicted and sentenced to d#ath, becoming the only woman currently on Tennessee’s d#ath row. If the execution goes ahead, she would be the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than two centuries.

Her attorneys are now asking Governor Bill Lee to commute the sentence to life in pr#son without the possibility of par#le. Their 226-page clemency peтιтion focuses on Pike’s childhood trauma, untreated psychological conditions and the circumstances surrounding her life at the time of the crime. These are arguments made by her legal team, not findings that erase the conviction.

The peтιтion also points to the difference between Pike’s sentence and that of her then-boyfriend and co-defendant, Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17 when the crime occurred and therefore could not receive a d#ath sentence. He received a life sentence and is now eligible for par#le, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The case has also drawn international attention. UN human-rights experts have called for Tennessee to halt the planned execution and commute Pike’s sentence, citing her history of childhood abuse and decades of solitary confinement. Separately, trauma experts have submitted arguments concerning the psychological impact of the execution process.

At the same time, the loss of Colleen Slemmer remains at the center of the case. The legal arguments surrounding Pike’s background and sentence do not change the fact that a 19-year-old woman lost her life in 1995.

With September 30 approaching, the case has entered another decisive stage. The scheduled execution remains on the state calendar, while Pike’s clemency request is before Governor Lee.

💔 More than three decades later, the case is no longer only about what happened in 1995 — it is also about what punishment should follow, and whether the scheduled execution will ultimately take place.

Sources: Tennessee Department of Correction; Death Penalty Information Center; UN Human Rights Office.