US state set to execute first woman on death row in over 200 years

An American state is preparing to execute its first woman on death row in 200 years, more than 30 years after her crime.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has scheduled the execution of Christa Gail Pike, 49, to take place on 30 September 2026.

She is the only woman on death row in Tennessee, and if the capital punishment is carried out, she will become the 19th woman executed in modern US history, as well as the first in the state in over two centuries.

Pike was just 19 when she was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, 18. She reportedly thought Slemmer, a fellow Jobs Corps worker from Knoxville, Tennessee, was trying to steal her then-boyfriend, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp.

Slemmer was stabbed and beaten by Pike and Shipp, with the horrific crime taking place in a remote area of the University of Tennessee’s Agricultural campus.

Christa Gail Pike's execution date has been set for next September (Getty Stock Image)

The duo, along with their friend Shadolla Peterson, asked Slemmer to meet them in the woodland, but little did she know, she was being lured to her death. Peterson acted as a lookout while Slemmer stabbed and bludgeoned for thirty minutes, and a pentagram was carved in her chest.

The attack made national headlines for its brutality, as Pike smashed Slemmer's skull with a large chunk of asphalt, and investigators claimed she kept hold of a piece of it.

According to USA Today, Pike later bragged about the brutal murder, telling another student that she cut the teenager's throat six times with a box cutter.

Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death, while Shipp was also convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison and will reportedly become eligible for parole in November.

Pike's friend, Peterson, allegedly testified against Pike and was therefore sentenced to probation. At the time of her incarceration, Pike was the youngest person on death row at age 20.

In 1996, she entered the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center (formerly the Tennessee Prison for Women). On 24 August 2001, while incarcerated, she was convicted of attempted first-degree murder in the assault on fellow inmate Patricia Jones.

This added another 25 years to her sentence.

She brutally murdered her classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995 (Tennessee Department of Correction)

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the last woman to be executed on death row in Tennessee was Martin Eve, who was charged with accessory to murder.

Over the last three decades, Pike's case has gone back and forth through the appeals process. As reported by Fox News, her attorneys have cited a history of abuse as well as diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In a statement, they said: "Christa’s childhood was fraught with years of physical and sexual abuse and neglect. With time and treatment, she has become a thoughtful woman with deep remorse for her crime."

She also expressed remorse in a handwritten letter provided to a local news outlet, The Tennessean, writing: "Think back to the worst mistake you made as a reckless teenager. Well, mine happened to be huge, unforgettable and ruined countless lives. I was a mentally ill 18 yr old kid.

"It took me numerous years to even realise the gravity of what I'd done.

"Even more to accept how many lives I effected. I took the life of someone's child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think that someone as loving and compassionate as myself had the ability to commit such a crime."