CHRISTА PIKE SAYS SHE IS ‘AT PEACE’ AHEAD OF SCHEDULED EXECUTION AFTER TENNESSEE GOVERNOR DENIES CLEMENCY

Christa Pike, the only woman currently on Tennessee’s death row, says she is “at peace” and is not afraid to die as she faces a scheduled execution on September 30.

Pike, now 50, wrote in a letter before Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee rejected her final request for clemency. “I am not afraid to die. I am only nervous about the process,” she wrote, according to the letter shared by her spiritual adviser.

Lee announced on September 28 that he would not intervene in Pike’s case, saying that after reviewing her clemency request, he had decided to uphold the state’s sentence.

If the execution proceeds as scheduled, Pike would become the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years. State officials have scheduled the lethal injection for 10 a.m. CDT at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

A CASE THAT DATES BACK MORE THAN 30 YEARS

Pike was 18 when she was convicted in connection with the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow Job Corps student in Knoxville.

According to court records, Pike and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17 at the time, were involved in luring Slemmer to a secluded area. Shadolla Peterson, another 18-year-old who was involved in the case, later testified against Pike and Shipp.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996. Shipp received a life sentence, while Peterson received probation after cooperating with prosecutors.

Pike has not maintained that she was innocent. Instead, her legal team has spent years challenging the death sentence and arguing that circumstances surrounding her childhood and mental health should be considered.

HER LAWYERS POINT TO HER CHILDHOOD

Pike’s attorneys have argued that she experienced severe abuse, neglect and trauma throughout her childhood, including repeated sexual abuse.

They also contend that mental-health conditions and other circumstances were not adequately presented when she was sentenced decades ago.

Her lawyers have emphasized that Pike was only 18 when the crime occurred and that she has changed substantially during more than three decades in prison.

In a statement following Lee’s decision, her attorneys described Pike as a remorseful 50-year-old who receives treatment and has supported other incarcerated women.

The clemency campaign also attracted attention from international organizations and death-penalty opponents, who argued that her age at the time of the crime and history of trauma should be taken into account.

“I AM AT PEACE”

In the letter written before learning that Lee would reject her clemency request, Pike thanked people who had supported her during the final weeks of her case.

“Whether my clemency is granted or not, I am at peace,” she wrote.

She added that she was not afraid to die but was nervous about the execution process.

Her spiritual adviser said Pike had received an outpouring of support in the final days before the scheduled execution.

Pike also wrote that she believed the public had seen only a limited version of who she was during the decades since her conviction.

EXECUTION PROCEDURE HAS ALSO FACED SCRUTINY

Pike’s lawyers have separately challenged Tennessee’s lethal-injection procedures.

Court filings show that her legal team raised constitutional objections to the state’s execution protocol and argued that her psychological conditions could create additional risks during the process.

Tennessee’s execution procedures have received renewed scrutiny following an unsuccessful execution attempt earlier this year, when officials were unable to establish intravenous access and abandoned the procedure.

Pike’s attorneys have continued pursuing legal avenues to stop the execution.

For now, however, the scheduled date remains September 30.

If carried out, Pike’s execution would mark a historic moment in Tennessee: she would be the first woman put to death by the state in more than two centuries.