The unbelievable story of Christa Pike, sentenced to death at 18 for killing her classmate over jealousy and requesting an only-women hanging squad

• Christa Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer.

• She became the only woman currently on Tennessee’s death row.

• Pike is requesting an all-female execution team and a different execution method.

• Her lawyers are seeking clemency, citing her history of trauma and abuse.

Christa Gail Pike was only 18 years old when she became involved in one of Tennessee’s most notorious murder cases — a crime that later led to her becoming the only woman currently on Tennessee’s death row.

Nearly three decades after she was sentenced to death for the killing of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, Pike is now making another unusual request ahead of her scheduled execution: she wants an all-female execution team and has asked to be executed by hanging instead of lethal injection.

Pike is scheduled to be executed on September 30, 2026, and if carried out, she would become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. 

Pike and Slemmer were both students at the Knoxville Job Corps Center in Tennessee in 1995.

Prosecutors said Pike became jealous of Slemmer because she believed the 19-year-old was trying to get close to her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp. However, people close to Slemmer disputed Pike’s belief. 

According to court records, Pike, Shipp and another Job Corps student, Shadolla Peterson, lured Slemmer to an isolated area near the University of Tennessee campus on January 12, 1995.

The prosecution said Slemmer was attacked during the encounter, and Pike was later convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Court records state that Pike was sentenced to death in 1996, making her one of the youngest women sentenced to death in the United States in the modern death penalty era. 

Her boyfriend, Shipp, who was 17 at the time of the crime, was not eligible for the death penalty because of his age and received a different sentence. 

As her execution date approaches, Pike’s lawyers have argued that carrying out the execution through Tennessee’s standard process could worsen the effects of her past trauma.

Her legal team has highlighted claims that Pike experienced severe childhood abuse and later developed mental health conditions, including PTSD, arguing that these factors should be considered in her clemency request.

Her lawyers have argued that having male officials involved in the execution process could trigger further psychological trauma. They have requested an all-female execution team as part of their legal challenge. 

Pike has also asked for hanging as an alternative execution method, although Tennessee officials have argued that the state is not equipped or authorised to carry out executions by hanging. 

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Pike’s lawyers have asked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life imprisonment without parole.

In their clemency petition, they argue that Pike’s actions at 18 should be considered alongside her history of abuse, trauma and mental health struggles. 

The petition argues that those circumstances were not fully presented during her original trial.

However, Tennessee authorities have maintained that Pike’s conviction and sentence have gone through years of appeals and legal review. 

Pike’s case has remained controversial because it combines several issues — a violent crime committed when she was a teenager, the death penalty, claims about childhood trauma and the debate over execution methods.

If her execution proceeds as scheduled, Christa Pike will become one of the few women in modern US history to be executed and the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than two centuries.