Tennessee is preparing to execute Christa Gail Pike, the only woman on the state's death row, in what would mark the first execution of a female inmate in more than two centuries. The state Supreme Court has set Pike's execution date for Sept. 30, 2026.
If carried out, Pike would become the first woman executed in Tennessee since the early 1800s and only the 19th woman executed in the United States in the modern era, figures from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) show. Since the U.S. reinstated capital punishment in 1976, women have accounted for just 1% of executions, with 18 cases compared to more than 1,600 men.
Pike was 18 years old when she and two others lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer into a wooded area in Knoxville on Jan. 12, 1995. Prosecutors said the attack stemmed from Pike's jealousy over a teenage boyfriend they both knew at the Knoxville Job Corps, a career-training program.
According to court records cited by AP News, Slemmer was beaten, cut, and stabbed over the course of an hour before Pike inflicted a fatal head injury. A pentagram was carved into her chest, and Pike later kept a fragment of Slemmer's skull, which she showed to other students.
Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, also received a murder conviction and is serving a life sentence with parole eligibility. A third accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, testified against Pike and was sentenced to probation.
The DPIC notes that Tennessee has executed only three women in its history, all between 1807 and 1819, with two of them recorded as enslaved individuals. Pike's execution would be the first involving a woman in the state in over 200 years.
Nationally, Pike is among just 48 women currently on death row, compared with nearly 2,100 men. The last woman executed in the U.S. was Amber McLaughlin in Missouri in 2023.
Tennessee's most recent execution was in August 2025, when the state put to death Byron Black for the 1988 murders of his girlfriend and her two children.
With Pike's case now formally scheduled, Tennessee joins a growing number of states moving forward with executions this year. According to DPIC, 2025 has already seen the highest number of executions in a decade, with 34 inmates put to death so far and nine more scheduled before year's end.
Originally published on IBTimes
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