Christa Pike Scheduled For Execution Sept. 30; Lawyers Seek Commutation Citing Trauma And Legal Precedent

Christa Pike is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, Sept. 30, in Tennessee for a 1995 murder she committed at age 18. Her attorneys have petitioned Gov. Bill Lee to commute the sentence to life without parole and have also sought intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court, according to court filings obtained by PEOPLE.

Case Background

In January 1995, Pike was convicted of the brutal killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow Knoxville Job Corps student. Prosecutors say Pike lured Slemmer to a remote area of the University of Tennessee agricultural campus with Pike’s then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and their friend Shadolla Peterson, and then stabbed and beat her. During the attack, a pentagram was carved into Slemmer’s chest and Pike allegedly removed part of her skull and kept it as a souvenir. Pike was found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Shipp, who was 17 at the time and ineligible for the death penalty, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole; Peterson pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was given probation.

Legal Arguments And Appeals

Pike’s legal team argues that carrying out the execution would be anomalous in Tennessee’s modern death-penalty history. Court filings contend that, of more than 3,100 convictions for first-degree homicide in Tennessee, only eight defendants were 18 at the time of the offense and received death sentences; all seven prior male death sentences — stemming from crimes between 1981 and 1991 — were later vacated. If executed, Pike would reportedly be the only person in the state’s modern era put to death for a crime committed at 18 and the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.

Her attorneys emphasize Pike’s documented history of childhood trauma, abuse and undiagnosed mental-health conditions, arguing that an "immature, traumatized brain" made her exceptionally vulnerable to impulses and poor decisions at age 18. They are asking the governor for commutation to life without parole while simultaneously pursuing relief in federal court and at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Reactions And Media

On Sept. 23, the Tennessee Supreme Court declined to stay Pike’s execution. A documentary released earlier this month, Dead Woman Walking: Pike Vs Tennessee, follows Pike in the months leading up to the scheduled date. Pike tells filmmakers that being told her execution date a year in advance has taken a heavy psychological toll:

“I have the most horrible nightmares... every day, I have woken up and lived that thought all day, every day, every waking moment.”

Slemmer’s mother, May Slemmer Martinez, appears in the documentary and supports carrying out Pike’s sentence. Martinez has said that while many young people face hardship, those experiences do not excuse taking another person’s life:

“Most kids do go through a lot of stuff, and they don't go out and kill.”

Current Status

With the Tennessee Supreme Court declining to issue a stay on Sept. 23, Pike’s legal team continues to seek commutation and federal relief. The case remains one of the most legally and emotionally charged death-penalty matters in the state, drawing attention to questions about youth, culpability, trauma and sentencing consistency.