Tennessee will carry out its first execution of a female prisoner in 200 years on Wednesday. Christa Pike, 50, was sentenced to death at age 18 after the 1995 murder of 19‑year‑old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate at Knoxville Job Corps. Pike is one of the youngest women to receive a capital sentence in the state.
Prosecutors said Pike, who was jealous of Slemmer’s perceived romantic rivalry, lured the victim to a secluded area where the pair tortured and killed her. The killing was brutal: Pike used a box cutter and a chunk of asphalt, and her boyfriend carved a pentagram—an emblem associated with Satanism—into Slemmer’s body. The case drew widespread attention because of the violence, the ages of the participants and the satanic symbol.
Pike does not deny her guilt, but her attorneys argue that a death sentence is inappropriate for a crime committed by a teenager suffering from untreated bipolar disorder, post‑traumatic stress disorder and a history of sexual abuse. Governor Bill Lee declined to grant clemency, and Pike’s legal team has asked the Supreme Court to stay the execution. The Death Penalty Information Center notes that death sentences for 18‑year‑olds have become increasingly rare.
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, insists the execution should proceed, recalling her daughter’s love of computers, roller skating and the Special Olympics. She says Slemmer never had a chance to grow up and that the loss continues to haunt her family. Tennessee’s last execution of a woman was in 1820, and since 1976 only 18 women have been executed nationwide, making Pike’s case a rare and controversial moment in the state’s capital punishment history.
