Christa Pike is the first woman to face execution in Tennessee since 1819. But according to Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell, there’s one thing she fears more than death itself.
At just 18 years old, Pike was convicted of the murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer, 19. At the time, she was a 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 Slemmer, whom she reportedly saw as a romantic rival. In March 1996, Pike was sentenced to death after being found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Now, the 50-year-old is set to die by lethal injection, on September 30, 2026.
“I know I said I believed a date would never be set, but now that one has been set, it’s like a roulette wheel of thought and your actual brain is the ball bouncing around,” she said in a new YouTube documentary titled Christa Pike’s Last Fight to Stop Her Execution.
Pike has also described suffering from “horrible nightmares” as the execution date approaches.
“My nerves are shredded. When I do sleep, my brain eats itself,” she says.
Christa Pike execution date
Her legal team has filed a 226-page clemency petition seeking to have her death sentence replaced with life without parole. They have argued that her history of childhood abuse, mental health diagnoses and decades spent in solitary confinement should be taken into consideration.
Pike’s attorneys have also raised concerns about the way a lethal injection could affect Pike because she suffers from thrombocytosis, a blood-clotting disorder, arguing that the procedure could be “prolonged and agonizing.”
Her lawyers are also challenging the state’s lethal injection procedures, including how officials would handle the situation if they cannot quickly find a suitable vein for the IV.
Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell told NewsChannel 9 that Pike has previously had problems with blood draws. According to her attorney, she is particularly concerned about the possibility of needing a central line during the execution.
He explained: “Her biggest fear is not the fear of dying. It’s the fear of that process,” according to Tyla, adding that “if it’s quick and painless, she can accept that.”
“I think she should pay for it”
Despite the efforts from her legal team, however, experts have stated that Pike would lose consciousness within 20-30 seconds after receiving the injection, before she’s able to feel any pain.
The court also noted that she had not provided sufficient evidence to establish that her veins were too small for an IV.
The mother of Colleen Slemmer, May Martinez, said on Knoxville TV station WBIR a few years back saying: “She did the crime. I think she should pay for it,” adding: “I would feel better that she felt the same pain that Colleen did.”
Earlier this week, she confirmed in an interview with the BBC that she still stands by those comments.
As of now, her execution is still scheduled for September 30.
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