Tennessee is set to execute Christa Pike on Wednesday, September 30, at 10 a.m., which would make her the first woman the state has put to death in more than 200 years. Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom she lured from the Knoxville Job Corps Center and beat and stabbed to death. Her reported motive was jealousy over a boyfriend.
Story Snapshot
- Pike is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday, September 30, at 10 a.m. at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
- The Tennessee Supreme Court denied her request for a stay on September 23.
- Her lawyers have asked Gov. Bill Lee to change her sentence to life without parole; he has not announced a decision.
- Until the execution, a court stay or clemency from the governor is still possible.
What Is Scheduled To Happen And When
Death penalty opponents marched Sunday, September 27, from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville to the state Capitol, calling attention to Pike’s case. “Wednesday, we’re about to kill a woman in the state for first time in over 200 years,” said protester Bethany Mann. The execution is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at Riverbend, by lethal injection. Pike has asked for an all-female execution team, and the state has allowed female officers to escort her to the execution site.
Pike was 18 when Slemmer was killed in 1995 in a secluded area near the Knoxville Job Corps Center. Two other teenagers were there. Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, wants the sentence carried out. “You do something like that to somebody- you need to pay the price. I think she should be put to death for her crime,” Martinez said in a documentary. Pike has spoken about the long wait. “I have the most horrible nightmares, but I think what has been worse is that they told me a year ahead of time,” she said.
Christa Pike clemency petition. She was 18 when she committed the crime and was an abused child. Christa has spent the last 30 years on death row. If we expect mercy from God, we must be merciful! #governorbilllee #mercy #christapike https://t.co/R4lE2oVVtE
— Georgina Taylor (@georginataylor_) September 28, 2026
What The Clemency Petition Asks, And Why It Matters
Early in September, Pike’s lawyers filed a 226-page clemency petition with Gov. Lee. It asks him to change her death sentence to life in prison without the chance of parole. The petition points to severe childhood abuse, trauma and mental illness, and argues these shaped what she did. It does not ask for her release. It asks for a prison term that would last the rest of her life. Under Tennessee law, only the governor has the power to grant clemency.
Clemency in death penalty cases is rare across the country, which puts heavy weight on a single decision. Lee’s office has not announced a decision on Pike’s petition. Those backing the request say her past should count. “What Christa Pike did was monstrous, but she is not a monster,” said Abraham Bonowitz of Death Penalty Action. “And it’s both important for people to understand what got her to the place that allowed her to do that.”
Court Rulings, Public Pressure, And The Narrow Path Left
On September 23, the Tennessee Supreme Court denied Pike’s request to pause the execution. She had challenged the state’s lethal injection method, a single drug called pentobarbital, and proposed other methods, including hanging. The court found she had not shown she was likely to win on those claims. In August, a special master had also rejected her lethal injection challenge. Her lawyers can still file emergency requests with higher courts before Wednesday.
The two sides see the choice in plain terms. Supporters of clemency point to Pike’s childhood and mental illness and ask for life without parole instead of death. Slemmer’s mother and others say the crime was brutal and the sentence should stand after decades of court review. Sunday’s march from the prison to the Capitol showed how strongly opponents of the death penalty feel about this case.
Why This Case Taps A Deeper American Frustration
Colleen Slemmer was killed more than 30 years ago. Death penalty cases can take that long, and many Americans on both the right and the left see a justice system that feels slow and hard to trust. Victims’ families wait decades for an ending. People on death row wait decades for an answer. When the courts are done, the last word falls to one person in the governor’s office.
In Pike’s case, the facts on the governor’s desk are plain: an execution date, a denied stay, and a detailed request for mercy. Leaders in both parties say they want fair trials, safe communities and respect for victims. Lee’s choice will show how Tennessee weighs justice for Colleen Slemmer against a plea for mercy, with the nation watching.
Sources:
fox17.com, tennessean.com, theguardian.com, aetv.com, wpln.org, nypost.com
