“A Crime That Shocked Tennessee — And a Sentence 200 Years in the Making”

Tennessee is preparing for what could become a historic and controversial moment: the execution of a woman for the first time in more than 200 years. The Tennessee Supreme Court has approved the state’s request to move forward with the death sentence of Christa Gail Pike, now 49, the only woman currently on Tennessee’s death row.

Pike was just 18 years old when she committed one of the most shocking murders in the state’s history. On January 12, 1995, she led 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer into a secluded wooded area near the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus. Both women were enrolled in the Knoxville Job Corps program at the time. Investigators later determined that Pike believed Slemmer was romantically interested in her boyfriend, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp, a suspicion that fueled a violent and carefully planned attack.

Assisted by Shipp and another student, Shadolla Peterson, Pike carried out a savage assault. Prosecutors said Pike used a box cutter to slash Slemmer’s throat, struck her with a meat cleaver, carved a pentagram into her chest, and ultimately crushed her skull with a piece of asphalt. The brutality of the killing horrified both law enforcement and the public.

Investigators were further disturbed by Pike’s behavior after the crime. Retired detective Randy York later recalled that Pike appeared disturbingly upbeat during questioning. At one point, she produced a fragment of Slemmer’s skull she had kept as a souvenir, showing officers how it fit into the victim’s head “like a puzzle.”

In 1996, Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Shipp received life in prison without the possibility of parole. Peterson, who cooperated with authorities, was granted probation. Pike’s violent behavior did not end there; in 2004, she was sentenced to an additional 25 years in prison after attempting to strangle a fellow inmate.

After years of appeals and legal delays, Tennessee officials formally requested an execution date. The state has scheduled Pike’s execution for September 30, 2026. Her legal team continues to fight the sentence, arguing that her youth at the time of the crime, a deeply traumatic upbringing, and diagnosed mental health conditions — including bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder — should be considered mitigating factors.

Defense attorneys describe Pike’s childhood as one filled with severe abuse and neglect and say she has expressed remorse in the years since. If the execution proceeds as planned, it would mark Tennessee’s first execution of a woman since 1820, highlighting both the rarity of the punishment and the enduring complexity surrounding the case.