Christa Gail Pike, who has been on Tennessee’s death row for decades, is set to become the first woman executed in the state in more than 200 years. Now, she is facing a setback after most of her challenges to the state’s lethal injection method and protocol were rejected in findings issued by a special master.
On Jan. 12, 1995, Christa Pike was an 18-year-old student at the Job Corps career-training center in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she was dating fellow student Tadaryl Shipp, 17.
Their relationship led to her involvement in the brutal torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom she reportedly saw as a romantic rival. Pike later shocked classmates by allegedly showing them a piece of the victim’s skull.
In March 1996, Pike was sentenced to death after being found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Now, more than three decades later, she is set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. The Tennessee Supreme Court has scheduled her execution for September 30, 2026.
“I did something horrible”
Pike, however, maintains that she does not deserve to die.
“I know I don’t deserve to be out walking around with everybody else in normal society. I did something horrible that is unacceptable and I realize that,” she said in a documentary filmed by WETV.
“Christa’s childhood was fraught with years of physical and sexual abuse and neglect,” her legal team said in a statement to USA Today. “With time and treatment for bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders, which were not diagnosed until years later, Christa has become a thoughtful woman with deep remorse for her crime.”
Her legal team challenged the state’s lethal injection protocol, arguing that it could cause severe pain and violate her constitutional rights. According to her attorneys, it could also lead to complications because she suffers from thrombocytosis, a blood-clotting disorder.
Her attorneys have also argued that her mental health issues, including bipolar disorder and PTSD, should be taken into consideration because they could increase the risk of distress during the execution. Because of her history of sexual assault, her team also said Pike’s move to River Bend, which is a male facility, ahead of her execution have caused “serious illness and needless suffering,” according to VT.
The defense has also argued that Pike’s Buddhist faith takes electrocution as an alternative method out of the question. According to her lawyers, the state’s execution procedures lack safeguards if something unexpected goes wrong, and isolating inmates in their final weeks can add unnecessary suffering.
Christa Gail Pike
Now, however, Senior Judge Mark Ward has found that Pike’s medical condition should not prevent officials from starting an IV. Experts stated that she would lose consciousness within 20-30 seconds after receiving the injection, and therefore it will happen before she’s able to feel any pain.
Ward also stressed that her medical records show she has been able to get blood drawn without any issues in the past.
He added: “At most, Ms. Pike has shown that she could experience some unknown amount of pain from peripheral IV access, but no more than any other person would,” according to VT.
Pike’s legal team maintains that a deeper central line IV or hanging would be a more humane method. Ward, however, said that using a deeper central line would only be a minor change to the procedure and would not alter the method itself, and that hanging is more dangerous and painful. Hanging is also no longer a method used by the prison system because there is no equipment or trained staff to perform it.
Ward stated: “The Court does find that Ms. Pike suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder.
“However, the Court also finds that the accommodations made by TDOC regarding Ms. Pike’s scheduled execution have minimized the potential for Ms. Pike experiencing significant triggering and/or anxiety.”
Scheduled to be executed
Pike is going to be the sole inmate in the Capital Punishment Unit when at River Bend. She will have four guards working in shifts to watch her at all times, with a privacy screen available when using the restroom or showering. Officials also plan to limit her transfer to Riverbend to 24 hours before the scheduled execution, rather than the usual 14-day period.
“When a prisoner asserts that the State’s chosen method of execution cruelly superadds pain to the death sentence, a prisoner must show a feasible and readily implemented alternative method of execution that would significantly reduce a substantial risk of severe pain and that the State has refused to adopt without a legitimate penological reason,” Ward stated.
For now, Pike remains scheduled to be executed on September 30, 2026 – a date that, if carried out, would make her the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years.
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