CHRISTА PIKE SAYS SHE IS “AT PEACE” AHEAD OF SCHEDULED EXECUTION AS TENNESSEE GOVERNOR DENIES CLEMENCY

Christa Pike, the only woman currently on Tennessee’s death row, has said she is “at peace” and is not afraid to die as she faces a scheduled execution on Wednesday, September 30 — a case that could mark the first execution of a woman by Tennessee in more than 200 years.

Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at a Job Corps program in Knoxville.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee denied Pike’s request for clemency on September 28, leaving her scheduled execution in place. Lee said that, after reviewing the case and Pike’s request, he would not intervene in the sentence.

“I AM NOT AFRAID TO DIE”

In a letter to NBC News before learning of the governor’s decision, Pike said she had reached a sense of peace about the possibility of her execution.

“I am not afraid to die,” she wrote, adding that she was nervous about the execution process itself.

Pike also expressed gratitude toward people who had supported her clemency campaign and said she remained at peace regardless of whether her request was granted.

Her comments came as her attorneys continued pursuing legal avenues to stop the execution.

Pike’s legal team has challenged aspects of Tennessee’s lethal-injection procedure and sought additional relief from the courts.

A CASE THAT BEGAN MORE THAN THREE DECADES AGO

Pike was 18 years old when Slemmer was killed in January 1995.

According to the case record, Pike and two other teenagers lured Slemmer, who was 19, to an isolated wooded area near the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville.

Pike was subsequently convicted of Slemmer’s murder and sentenced to death in 1996.

Her co-defendants received different sentences. Pike’s then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, was 17 at the time and was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. A third participant, Shadolla Peterson, testified against Pike and Shipp and received probation.

Pike has remained on death row for nearly three decades.

She was also convicted in 2001 of attempted murder involving another incarcerated woman.

CLEMENCY REQUEST FOCUSED ON HER CHILDHOOD

Pike’s attorneys submitted a 226-page clemency petition to Governor Lee earlier this month.

The petition highlighted what her lawyers described as extensive childhood abuse, sexual violence, neglect and trauma. Her attorneys also cited diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder after she was incarcerated.

They asked the governor to commute her death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Pike’s legal team has argued that the person who committed the crime at 18 should be considered in light of her background and the changes she has undergone during nearly 30 years in prison.

Her lawyers described Pike as remorseful and said she now understands the consequences of her actions.

Governor Lee nevertheless declined to intervene.

GOVERNOR BILL LEE DENIES CLEMENCY

On September 28, Lee announced that he would uphold Pike’s sentence.

“After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case,” Lee said he was upholding the sentence and did not plan to intervene.

Pike’s attorneys expressed disappointment with the decision.

They argued that carrying out the execution would make Pike the first woman Tennessee has executed in more than two centuries and the first person executed by the state in the modern era for a crime committed as a teenager.

Those are statements from Pike’s legal team; the clemency decision itself remains the governor’s.

COURTS HAVE ALSO BEEN ASKED TO INTERVENE

The clemency rejection was not the only last-minute legal effort.

Pike’s attorneys sought a stay of execution from the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Tennessee Supreme Court had previously rejected a request to halt the execution, while the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final emergency request on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Her lawyers have also raised concerns about the psychological impact that Tennessee’s execution procedure could have on Pike because of her documented history of trauma.

A group of trauma and sexual-violence experts submitted an amicus brief arguing that certain elements of the execution process could trigger severe traumatic responses.

These arguments have been presented by Pike’s legal representatives and supporting experts and do not themselves alter her conviction or death sentence.

WHY THE EXECUTION WOULD BE HISTORIC

If carried out as scheduled, Pike would become the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years.

She would also be the only person executed by Tennessee in the modern era for a crime committed at age 18, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The Tennessee Department of Correction has scheduled the execution for 10 a.m. Central Time on September 30, 2026, at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

COLLEEN SLEMMER’S FAMILY HAS SPOKEN ABOUT THE CASE

The decades-old case continues to affect Slemmer’s family.

Her mother, May Martinez, has supported Pike’s execution, according to reporting on the case.

The disagreement surrounding Pike’s final appeals has therefore involved competing perspectives: Pike’s attorneys and supporters have emphasized her age at the time of the crime, childhood trauma and later changes in prison, while Slemmer’s family has continued to live with the consequences of the 1995 killing.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

As of the morning of September 30, 2026, Pike remains scheduled to be executed by lethal injection.

Her governor’s clemency request has been denied, and the courts have rejected the emergency requests for a stay reported so far. Reuters reported that the U.S. Supreme Court had rejected a final appeal, leaving the execution scheduled to proceed.

Pike has spent almost 30 years on death row.

Now, at 50, she says she is at peace with the possibility of death, while her attorneys continue to pursue the remaining legal avenues available to her.

If the execution proceeds, it will mark a historic moment in Tennessee — the state’s first execution of a woman in more than two centuries.

For now, the scheduled time remains 10 a.m. Central Time on September 30.