Death row killer Christa Pike makes unexpected admission over execution as final request rejected

In the days leading up to her execution, Christa Pike mused about how ‘at peace’ she was with the prospect of dying, remarking that she was ‘only nervous about the process’.

On Wednesday (30 September), the 50-year-old convict will be executed via lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee, becoming the first woman to be killed by the state in over 200 years.

Lawyers argued that when Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the first-degree murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer, her age, traumatic childhood and mental health struggles should have been taken into account.

A 226-page clemency petition submitted to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee asked for Pike's death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment without parole.

Christa Pike's final request for clemency has ben rejected (Tennessee Department of Corrections)

However, following a ‘thorough review of the case’, the official shared that he would ‘uphold the sentence of the State of Tennessee’ and that he does not ‘plan’ to intervene with the execution.

He claimed the verdict—denying Pike’s last request for clemency—was decided following ‘deliberate consideration’.

READ MORE: Full timeline of Christa Pike case and clemency process

In response, her lawyers alleged: “With this decision, the State of Tennessee is ignoring what both science and our legal system have decided: an 18-year-old brain is not an adult brain, and 18 is too young to face execution.”

Women on Death Row by State (Tyla)

They added: “The 18-year-old girl suffering from severe mental illness and near-debilitating trauma no longer exists.

"Christa is a 50-year-old remorseful woman who understands her actions, receives proper treatment for her mental illness, and provides for and guides fellow incarcerated women."

“I am not afraid to die. I’m only nervous about the process”

Before learning on Monday (28 September) that the Tennessee Governor would not be intervening in her case, Pike wrote a letter to NBC News.

The contents, shared by her spiritual adviser, explained that regardless of whether her clemency was granted or not, she was ‘at peace’ with the prospect of dying after more than three decades on death row.

The handwritten letter began with the American extending her ‘gratitude to everyone who has supported [her] through hard days’.

Lawyers have argued that Pike's age and mental health history should have played a part in her conviction (Cornell Law School)

“I’ve felt more love in the last two weeks than I have my entire life. Though there was an absence - when my people showed up for me - they have showed up and showed out!”

She continued: “I am humbled beyond words. Whether my clemency is granted or not, I am at peace. I am not afraid to die.

“I’m only nervous about the process.”

Pike, who has been on death row for over three decades, thanked her team for working to ‘expose [her] true character’ above the ‘limited public persona that has been the only narrative'.

“Also thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak in my own words,” the letter, written before she learned Gov. Bill Lee had denied clemency, concluded.

“I'll hold Colleen's picture up to remind her of what she did”

The mother of Slemmer - a Job Corps centre student, who was lured into an isolated area near the University of Tennessee's Agricultural campus by Pike, her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and Shadolla Peterson - has previously announced she will be present at Pike’s execution.

Colleen Slemmer's mother May Martinez has said she wil attend the execution (WBIR Channel 10)

May Martinez previously told WBIR Channel 10: “I'll hold Colleen's picture up to remind her of what she did.”

She is expected to travel for more than eight hours from Florida to Nashville.

In the new documentary Dead Woman Walking: Pike Vs Tennessee, Pike reflected on the impact Slemmer's death had on her family.

“I’ve always felt bad for her mother, that I took someone’s child, someone’s sister, someone’s friend away,” she said.

“I feel remarkably remorseful for what I did.”

Female staff have been requested for heartbreaking reason

Pike has been on death row in Tennessee for three decades (Tennessee Department of Correction)

The West Virginia-born woman’s lawyers have requested that female corrections staff be present during her execution due to her history of sexual abuse, arguing that being restrained and handled by male officers could trigger traumatic memories.

The Guardian wrote that her lawyers say she is terrified that the experience of being restrained on an execution gurney, with staff handling her body and attempting to establish an IV, could trigger memories of the abuse she experienced as a child.

Tennessee has said it will transport Pike using female corrections officers while endevouring to have only female staff observe he.

However, it is not guaranteed that every person involved in the execution will be a woman.