Credit: Tennessee Department Of Corrections
Death Row Inmate’s Chilling Plea After Finding Out She Will Be First Woman Executed By US State In 200 Years
Haunting footage has revealed the chilling final plea of a woman who is set to become the first woman executed in Texas in 200 years, after she learned she would be executed by electrocution.
Christa Gail Pike was found guilty of murdering her then-classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in January 1995, when she was just 18.
Assisted by her ex-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and their friend Shadolla Peterson, Pike lured her victim into the woodlands in the city of Knoxville by pretending she wanted to make amends following a fall out over a boy.
However, when Slemmer arrived at the remote location, she was brutally attacked, stabbed and bludgeoned to death by Pike.
A historic execution date
Now, more than 30 years later, an execution date for the 49-year-old has been set for September 30, 2026.
Pike is currently the only woman on Tennessee’s death row and if the execution moves forward as planned, she will become the first woman executed in Tennessee since 1820 and just the fourth woman put to death in the state’s history.
Records from the Death Penalty Information Center show that Martin Eve was the last woman executed in Tennessee. She was hanged in 1820 after being convicted as an accessory to murder.
The rarity of female executions reflects a broader national pattern. Although women account for a larger share of homicide convictions, they make up only about 2% of death row inmates nationwide.
The murder that stunned Tennessee
At the time of the murder, Pike was 18 years old and enrolled at the Knoxville Job Corps, a federally funded program designed to help young adults gain job skills and improve employment prospects.
Prosecutors argued that Pike became consumed by jealousy after beginning a relationship with fellow student Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17.
Believing Slemmer had romantic interest in Shipp, Pike allegedly became enraged, leading to a chain of events that ended in a violent killing.
On January 12, 1995, Pike, Shipp, and another acquaintance reportedly convinced Slemmer to join them in a wooded area near the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus.
What followed was an exceptionally brutal attack. Court records indicate Pike used a box cutter to slash Slemmer’s throat and struck her with a meat cleaver. She also carved a pentagram into the victim’s chest before ultimately crushing her skull with a piece of asphalt.
Prosecutors also pointed to another disturbing allegation, claiming Pike kept part of Slemmer’s skull as a souvenir and later showed it to classmates while boasting about the murder.
Decades of appeals and prison misconduct
In 1996, a jury found Pike guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced her to death, making her the youngest woman in the United States to receive a death sentence at that time.
Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole, while a third participant was given probation after cooperating with investigators and testifying against Pike.
Violence continued after Pike entered prison.
In 2004, she was convicted of attempting to strangle another inmate during a prison altercation, further raising concerns about her conduct while incarcerated.
As a result of that conviction, Pike received an additional 25-year sentence on top of her existing punishment.
For nearly three decades, her attorneys have challenged the death sentence through state and federal appeals, arguing that carrying out the execution would violate constitutional protections.
Her legal team has cited several mitigating factors, including her age at the time of the crime, severe childhood trauma, and mental health disorders that were not diagnosed until years after her conviction.
Defense attorneys contend that Pike endured years of physical and s**ual abuse as well as neglect during her childhood, experiences they argue had a profound impact on her psychological development.
According to her lawyers, she was not diagnosed with bipolar disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder until years after her conviction, raising questions about how those untreated conditions may have affected her actions and whether her defense was adequately presented at trial.
Tennessee resumed executions after a multi-year pause during which state officials reviewed lethal injection procedures.
Executions had been suspended for three years following concerns that drugs used in lethal injections were not being properly tested for purity and potency, leading to questions about the reliability and humanity of the process.
Debate over capital punishment reignites
Pike’s scheduled execution has already renewed intense debate in Tennessee and across the United States.
Supporters of the death penalty argue that the extreme brutality of Slemmer’s murder warrants the sentence and that justice should be carried out regardless of how much time has passed.
They also cite the calculated nature of the crime and Pike’s later prison conviction as evidence that she continues to pose a danger.
Opponents, however, are calling for clemency, pointing to Pike’s mental health history, traumatic childhood, and young age when the crime occurred.
They argue that executing someone for a crime committed at age 18—particularly someone with severe mental illness that went undiagnosed for years and a documented history of abuse—runs counter to evolving standards of decency.
In a statement addressing her impending execution, Pike’s legal team told USA Today: “Christa’s childhood was fraught with years of physical and s**ual abuse and neglect … With time and treatment for bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders, which were not diagnosed until years later, Christa has become a thoughtful woman with deep remorse for her crime.”
The statement went on to describe the transformation Pike has undergone during nearly 30 years on death row, portraying her as someone who has received treatment, gained insight into her mental health, and expressed sincere remorse for a crime committed as a teenager.
Her attorneys maintain that the woman Pike has become is dramatically different from the troubled 18-year-old convicted of murder in 1995.
Unless her remaining appeals are successful or Tennessee’s governor grants clemency, Pike is set to become a grim part of Tennessee history as the first woman executed in the state in more than two centuries.
Pike’s chilling plea after sentencing
With renewed public interest in the case ahead of Pike’s execution, a disturbing video recorded in court on the day of her sentencing has revealed the killer’s chilling final plea, after learning she would be executed by the electric chair.
The clip shows the then-teenager bursting into tears as she’s told she will be killed via electrocution, as well as 25 years in jail for the conspiracy charge against her.
In floods of tears, Pike turned to the judge and asked him: “Can I please hug my mom before I go?”
As the judge declined the request, she continued: “Please, can I hug her? I love you,” moments before she was taken out the door and sent back to jail.
Related Article: Death Row Inmate Set To Be First Woman Executed By US State In Over 200 Years Has Released Statement
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