In brief
Governor Bill Lee has denied a clemency petition for Christa Pike, who will be executed by lethal injection on September 30. Pike, 50, was 18 when she and boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp brutally murdered 19‑year‑old Colleen Slemmer in 1995. Her attorneys have petitioned the US Supreme Court for a reprieve, arguing that an 18‑year‑old brain should not face the death penalty and that Pike’s history of abuse and mental illness merits a commutation to life in prison. An execution would mark the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years and the first person in the modern era executed for a crime committed as a teenager.
Governor Bill Lee has denied a clemency request from death‑row inmate Christa Pike, scheduled to be executed on September 30 by lethal injection.
Pike, 50, was 18 when she and boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp brutally beat, tortured and killed 19‑year‑old Colleen Slemmer at a job‑training camp for troubled teens in 1995. The case became a media spectacle, featuring satanic symbols and graphic details.
Her attorneys have filed a petition with the US Supreme Court in hopes of a last‑minute reprieve, arguing that an 18‑year‑old brain should not be subject to the death penalty and that Pike’s documented history of sexual abuse, neglect and mental illness merits a commutation to life in prison.
If carried out, Pike would be the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years and the first person in the modern death‑penalty era executed for a crime committed as a teenager.
