NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Christa Pike was 18 when she killed a classmate in a jealous rage and became one of the youngest women to be sent to death row. Now 50, she is scheduled to be put to death Wednesday in what would be Tennessee’s first execution of a woman in 200 years.
Bill Lee announced Monday that he would not grant clemency. Pike does not deny her guilt, but her attorneys and supporters argue a death sentence is not appropriate for a crime committed at that age by a teen with untreated mental illness after a childhood of brutal sexual abuse and neglect. Slemmer’s mother wants the execution to go forward, saying she has waited decades to see Pike’s sentence carried out. Tennessee Gov. Pike’s attorneys have asked the Supreme Court to stay the execution. Pike was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Pike and her boyfriend were convicted in the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, their classmate at Knoxville Job Corps. Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said Pike was sexually abused starting from when she was a toddler and that she was raped at ages 11 and 17. Because of the brutality of the killing, the ages of the people involved and because a satanic symbol was carved into the victim’s body, the case got widespread attention.
Prosecutors said Pike feared Slemmer was a romantic rival and lured her to a secluded area where she and her boyfriend tortured and killed Slemmer. He said Pike’s lawyers at the penalty phase of her trial did not present the jury with what he said was critical information about her past or argue that her age should be a consideration. Pike told police she initially only wanted to fight Slemmer but ended up killing her in a frenzied attack. In her clemency petition, Pike’s attorneys said her untreated mental illness and background made her unable to “put the brakes on.”
A third teen admitted to being an accessory and received probation. Because of his age, he noted that Pike’s boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17 at the time, was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.
“If Christa Pike was tried today, I do not believe a jury that knew about the documented sexual abuse and neglect she experienced as a child would sentence her to death,” Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said.
He was denied parole last year. Ferrell said more today is known about adolescent brain development and that Pike’s death sentence is an outlier.
