Christa Gail Pike, 49, is scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than two centuries. The Tennessee Supreme Court has set her execution date for September 30, 2026, a decision that has drawn national attention for its historic and legal significance. Pike was 18 when she was convicted in 1996 for the murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer, becoming the youngest woman in state history to receive a death sentence.
According to court records, Pike and two others were found guilty of luring Slemmer to a secluded area, where the fatal incident occurred. Pike later confessed, and the case gained widespread attention due to its disturbing details. Recently, footage from her emotional sentencing hearing has resurfaced online, sparking renewed discussion about crime, punishment, and the state’s approach to capital cases involving young offenders.
Pike’s legal team continues to seek a commutation of her sentence to life without parole. They argue that her age at the time of the crime, combined with untreated mental health conditions and a traumatic childhood, would likely be weighed differently under current sentencing standards. Her attorneys have also stated that Pike has demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation during her decades of incarceration.
Currently held at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Pike remains Tennessee’s only female death row inmate and one of fewer than 50 women in the United States under a death sentence. As the execution date approaches, her case has reignited debate about justice, accountability, and the evolving ethics of capital punishment in modern America.