CHRISTA PIKE SAYS SHE IS “AT PEACE” AS TENNESSEE EXECUTION DRAWS NEAR

Christa Pike, the only woman currently on Tennessee’s death row, says she is “at peace” as she faces a scheduled execution on September 30 — after Governor Bill Lee rejected her final request for clemency.

Pike, now 50, has spent more than three decades under a death sentence after being convicted of the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at the Knoxville Job Corps program.

If the execution goes ahead as scheduled, Pike would become the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years. She would also be the first person executed by the state in the modern era for an offense committed while she was a teenager.

PIKE SAYS SHE IS NOT AFRAID OF DYING

In a letter written before the governor announced his decision, Pike said she was not afraid of dying, although she acknowledged being nervous about the execution process.

“I am not afraid to die. I’m only nervous about the process,” Pike wrote, according to CBS News.

She also expressed gratitude toward the people who had supported her clemency campaign and said she remained “at peace” regardless of what ultimately happened.

Her comments came as the final legal and clemency efforts surrounding her case entered their last stages.

GOVERNOR BILL LEE DENIES CLEMENCY

On September 28, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee rejected Pike’s request to have her death sentence commuted.

Lee said that after reviewing the case and considering Pike’s request, he had decided to uphold the sentence and would not intervene.

The decision left Pike scheduled to receive a lethal injection at 10 a.m. on September 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

Pike’s attorneys expressed disappointment with the decision and said they would continue pursuing every remaining legal avenue.

Her clemency petition had asked that her death sentence be changed to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

A CRIME THAT HAPPENED WHEN PIKE WAS 18

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

According to court records and prosecutors, Pike, her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and Shadolla Peterson were involved in the killing of Slemmer, who was 19 and attended the same Job Corps program.

Prosecutors said Pike believed Slemmer was a romantic rival and that the group lured Slemmer to a secluded area in Knoxville.

Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1996.

Shipp, who was 17 at the time of the offense, was not eligible for a death sentence and received a life sentence. Peterson cooperated with prosecutors and received probation.

Pike has not maintained that she was innocent. Her current legal team has instead focused on issues surrounding her age at the time of the crime, her childhood experiences and her mental-health history.

ATTORNEYS HIGHLIGHT YEARS OF TRAUMA

Pike’s attorneys have argued that her actions at 18 cannot be separated from a childhood marked by severe abuse, neglect and trauma.

Her clemency petition described repeated sexual abuse and violence during her childhood. Her lawyers also said she was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder while incarcerated.

Her legal team has argued that Pike is now fundamentally different from the teenager who committed the crime more than 30 years ago.

In their statement following the governor’s decision, her attorneys described Pike as a 50-year-old woman who expresses remorse, receives treatment and supports other incarcerated women.

Those arguments did not persuade Governor Lee to commute the sentence.

COURTS HAVE ALSO REJECTED CHALLENGES

Pike’s attorneys have separately challenged Tennessee’s lethal-injection protocol.

They argued that her psychological conditions, including complex PTSD, could make the execution process particularly traumatic and potentially expose her to unconstitutional suffering.

The Tennessee Supreme Court declined to halt the execution after reviewing the challenge. A special master’s earlier findings also concluded that Pike’s attorneys had not established that Tennessee’s execution method would cause the needless suffering they alleged.

Her attorneys have continued to pursue federal relief, including an emergency application to the U.S. Supreme Court.

As of September 29, however, the execution remained scheduled for the following morning.

COLLEEN SLEMMER’S FAMILY HAS WAITED DECADES

At the center of the case is Colleen Slemmer, who was just 19 years old when she was killed.

Her mother, May Martinez, has continued to support the sentence against Pike.

For Slemmer’s family, the case has stretched across more than 30 years, from the original investigation and trial to decades of appeals and repeated execution dates.

Martinez has said she believes Pike should be held accountable for what happened to her daughter.

A HISTORIC EXECUTION

If Tennessee carries out the sentence on September 30, Pike’s execution will have historic significance.

Tennessee has not executed a woman in more than two centuries.

Pike would also become the first person executed by Tennessee in the modern death-penalty era who was a teenager at the time of the offense, according to her attorneys and the Death Penalty Information Center.

The case has therefore drawn attention far beyond Tennessee, with supporters, opponents of capital punishment, legal advocates and victims’ family members closely watching the final days.

For Pike, meanwhile, the waiting has reached its final stage.

After more than 30 years on death row, she says she is prepared for whatever happens next.

“I am not afraid to die,” she wrote, while acknowledging that she remains nervous about the process.

Her scheduled execution is set for 10 a.m. on September 30, 2026.