Tennessee to execute its first woman in 200 years this week

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT/Gray News) - Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced on Monday that he does not plan to intervene in the execution of Christa Gail Pike, which is slated for later this week.

“After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene,” Lee said.

The decision comes after Pike’s legal team filed a clemency petition earlier this month, requesting that her death sentence be commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Pike’s legal team released a statement in response to the governor’s decision:

“We are deeply saddened and heartbroken by Governor Lee’s decision to deny clemency for Christa Pike. Moving ahead with her execution puts the State of Tennessee on singular footing: Christa will be the first person Tennessee executes in the modern death penalty era who was a teenager at the time of the offense and the first woman executed by the state in more than 200 years. 

Throughout her childhood, Christa was failed by people and institutions that should have shown her care and meaningful intervention. Instead, her childhood was marked by repeated, documented rape and sexual abuse, neglect, and violence. 

The 18-year-old girl suffering from severe mental illness and near-debilitating trauma no longer exists. Christa is a 50-year-old remorseful woman who understands her actions, receives proper treatment for her mental illness, and provides for and guides fellow incarcerated women.

With this decision, the State of Tennessee is ignoring what both science and our legal system have decided: an 18-year-old brain is not an adult brain, and 18 is too young to face execution. This decision also leaves unanswered vital questions about Tennessee’s execution protocol.

We will continue to support Christa through every remaining avenue and advocate for a system that is transparent for the people of Tennessee.”

Pike was convicted of the 1995 torture and murder of Colleen Slemmer, a fellow Job Corps student, on the University of Tennessee Agriculture campus in Knoxville.

Pike’s execution is set to take place on Wednesday, Sept. 30. She is scheduled to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.