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Christa Pike’s Background

Christa Pike was born in Beckley, West Virginia, on March 10th, 1976. She didn’t grow up in a great household, as her parents had issues and divorced before remarrying and divorcing again. They were allegedly focused on themselves and neglected Pike. The young girl did have love and support from her paternal grandmother, but she died when Pike was 12.

In tenth grade, she spent a year in a juvenile facility, where she learned about Job Corps. She thought learning a skill would move her life in a new direction, so she joined the Knoxville, Tennessee, branch in 1994.

There, she met and began dating Tadaryl Shipp, who was a year younger than her. According to KVUE, Shipp was a little weird and often participated in Satanism, devil worship, and occult-related activities. Pike followed his lead and took an interest in those same activities. As they got closer, they wore matching pentagrams on necklaces. He went by the name “Baby Satan”, while her nickname was “Lil Devil”.

Some media reports say that she and Shipp were interested in performing a human sacrifice and zeroed in on 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer as a potential victim. A large portion of media reports say that Pike was a jealous person, and wanted Slemmer dead because she thought that Slemmer was interested in Shipp.

Murder of Colleen Slemmer

On January 12th, 1995, Pike, Shipp, and a friend, 18-year-old Shadolla Peterson, were asking people about Slemmer’s whereabouts, telling people, “When we find her, she’s dead.” They soon realized Slemmer was in her dorm, and they lured her out.

They told her they were going to the woods to smoke marijuana. Once they got to the isolated location near the University of Tennessee campus, the Pike and Shipp attacked her while Peterson acted as a lookout.

The attack was brutal. Slemmer was taunted, slashed, beaten, and had a pentagram carved on her body. She begged for her life and tried to run, but they were too much for her. After 30 minutes to an hour, Pike finished her off by smashing her skull with a large chunk of concrete.

Pike grabbed a piece of Slemmer’s skull to keep as a trophy. According to KVUE, she immediately started bragging about what she had done. On top of that, she returned to the murder scene hours after the crime and started asking a police officer what was going on and if they had any suspects. Over the next few days, Pike kept running her big mouth about what she had done and even showed off the piece of skull. Within 36 hours, all three culprits were in handcuffs.

During questioning, Pike confessed to what she had done.

Peterson pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and received six years of probation. She has since stayed out of the spotlight and has not been in any legal trouble.

A jury convicted Shipp of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder at his trial. A judge sentenced him to life in prison plus 25 years. He was not eligible to be sentenced to life without parole because he was 17 at the time of the crime. He became eligible for parole in 2025, but his parole was denied.

Pike went to trial, facing the exact two charges a jury convicted Shipp of. On March 22nd, 1996, a jury convicted her of both charges. On March 30th, 1996, 18 days after her 20th birthday, a judge sentenced her to the death penalty. She cried and looked back at her family and asked if she could hug her mom as she was led out of the courtroom.

She is the youngest woman sentenced to death in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

In August 2001, she was arrested for trying to kill another inmate. She was convicted in that case in 2004, further cementing the fact that she was a dangerous person who should be put down.

Fighting her execution

In 2025, it was announced that Pike, who is the only woman in Tennessee on death row, would be executed on September 30th, 2026. Social media quickly reacted to the news, and there was a divide in opinions, with some feeling she should have received life in prison instead of the death penalty because she was 18 when the crime happened, while others felt her punishment was just for what she did to Slemmer.

But Pike wasn’t done fighting for her life. According to WKRN and other news outlets, she had a three-day hearing at the beginning of August, saying the state’s lethal injection procedures would violate the 8th amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment against criminals.

She claimed that having an all-male team drag her out of her cell and strap her to a gurney would force her to relive being violated as a child. She also says she has a condition called thrombocytosis, which would make the lethal injection painful.

She was also asking for a central line to be used during the lethal injection rather than the usual two IV lines, or she wanted to be hanged, which is a method the state doesn’t offer. The state’s default execution method is lethal injection, but Pike could also choose the electric chair since her crimes happened before 1999.

A court-appointed Special Master reviewed all of the information and determined that the execution process does not violate the 8th amendment. WPLN reported on August 21, 2026, that the special master was unconvinced by her legal team’s arguments.

He passed his recommendation to the Tennessee Supreme Court for a final decision. WATE reported on September 20th, 2026, that the Tennessee Supreme Court agreed with the Special Master. They denied a request to stay the execution.

However, the prison agreed to accommodate Pike by attempting to assign only female staff to observe her. She will also be the only inmate in the capital punishment unit at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, so she doesn’t have to worry about any male inmates seeing her.

Governor And Supreme Court Deny Clemency

According to KVUE, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced on September 28th, 2026, that he would not grant clemency to Pike. He released a statement saying, “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.”

Pike and her legal team went to the US Supreme Court, hoping to save her, but on September 29th, USA Today reported that they would not stop the execution.

Stay Issued

According to USA Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit stepped in about an hour before Pike’s scheduled execution and issued a stay until further notice. As I said above, Pike has argued that executing her would be cruel and unusual punishment, and the court released a statement saying they want to “properly analyze the parties’ fully briefed arguments and resolve the issues on the merit.”

Stay is lifted, but the execution fails

According to the Tennessean, at around 5:45 pm Central Time, the Supreme Court lifted the stay of execution. The execution started at 7:26 pm when the curtain to the death chamber opened. According to WCNC, Pike’s “last” words were, “I’m going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life, and that is in love.”

She was administered a dose of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital, but she was still breathing.

The blinds were closed at 7:46 pm, and three minutes later, they opened again. By the time they closed the blinds again at 8:05 pm, she was still breathing. WCNC reported that the second dose of pentobarbital was administered at 8:26 p.m.

APNews reported that witnesses were escorted out of the watch room at 8:53 p.m. Fire trucks and an ambulance arrived at the prison at 9:14 p.m. Pike was transported to the hospital. Her condition was initially a mystery, but on October 1st, she was reported to be in critical condition.

Governor calls off remaining executions for 2026

After Pike’s failed execution, Governor Bill Lee has called off all executions for the remainder of the year. Gary Wayne Sutton was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on December 3rd, but he will live another day. Lee wants a “comprehensive, third-party review”  of the Pike’s execution.

Pike Regains Consciousness And Returns To Prison

She was initially on a ventilator, and there were rumors that she was brain dead. Many didn’t expect her to survive, but her attorneys released a statement on October 6th, 2026, saying that she is “conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,” CNN reported. Her long-term prognosis remains unclear. In the days following her botched execution, her lawyers fought for her death sentence to be commuted, but the Governor has yet to respond.

NBCNews reported on October 9th, 2026, that Pike was walking and eating again. Her first steps were “limited” as she needed assistance. She also started to regain some mobility in her arms.

APNews reported on October 10th, 2026, that Pike was discharged from the hospital and sent back to Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center. Her lawyers told the media, “She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery.”

Timeline of events

March 10th, 1976– Pike was born in Beckley, West Virginia.

Late 1970s- She was violated as a toddler.

1987 or 1988- She was raped when she was 11 years old.

1987 or 1988- She attempted to end her own life.

1993-1994– She was allegedly raped when she was 17 years old.

Late 1994– Met and started dating Tadaryl Shipp.

January 12th, 1995– She and Shipp murdered Colleen Slemmer in a Satanic ritual. Shadolla Peterson was involved, possibly as a lookout.

January 14th, 1995– Pike was arrested for the murder of Colleen Slemmer.

March 22nd, 1996– Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

March 30th, 1996– At just 20 years old, she was sentenced to death.

August 2001– She tried to strangle fellow inmate, Patricia Jones, with a shoelace.

2004– She was convicted of attempted first-degree murder for the attack on Patricia Jones.

2025– Pike’s execution date was set for September 30th, 2026. She would have the option to choose between lethal injection and the electric chair.

August 2026– Pike had a three-day hearing where her legal team argued in front of a special master that executing her by lethal injection would be cruel and unusual punishment because of her past history of sexual assault. She also said her medical condition, thrombocytosis, would make the execution painful. She asked for execution by hanging, a method Tennessee doesn’t offer.

August 2026– The special master declined to intervene in Pike’s execution and passed his recommendation to the Supreme Court.

September 20th, 2026– The Supreme Court agreed with the special master and declined to issue a stay of execution.

September 30th, 2026, at 9:18 am– Just under two hours before her execution, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issues a stay.

September 30th, 2026, at 5:45 am– The US Supreme Court lifts the stay, allowing the execution to move forward.

September 30th, 2026, at 7:26 pm– The blinds to the death chamber were opened.

September 30th, 2026, at 7:46 pm– The blinds to the death chamber were closed.

September 30th, 2026, at 7:49 pm– The blinds to the death chamber were opened again.

September 30th, 2026, at 8:05 pm- The blinds to the death chamber closed for the final time, and Pike was still breathing.

September 30th, 2026, at 8:53 pm- Witnesses were escorted out of their viewing room.

September 30th, 2026, after 9:14 pm- Ambulances and fire trucks arrive. Pike is transported to a local hospital.

October 1st, 2026– Media reports said Pike was in critical condition as her lawyers asked the Governor to commute her death sentence to life in prison.

October 6th, 2026– Her lawyers told the media that she was alive and talking.

October 9th, 2026– Pike started walking and eating again.

October 10th, 2026- Pike was discharged from the hospital and returned to Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville, TN.