Teen Killer Temporarily Spared From State’s First Female Execution in More Than 200 Years

Christa Pike, the Tennessee woman convicted of a 1995 murder, narrowly avoided execution Wednesday after the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a last-minute stay. Her execution would have made her the first woman put to death in Tennessee in more than two centuries.

The 2-1 ruling paused the execution “until further notice” while judges consider motions filed by Pike’s lawyers and the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office.

Tennessee quickly asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and overturn the stay.

Pike was 18 in 1995 when she, her boyfriend and another friend killed 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer in what prosecutors described as a brutal, “satanic” attack. According to court records, Pike said the beating, kicking and stabbing lasted between 30 minutes and an hour. Pike is now 50.

Pike and Slemmer met through the Job Corps Center, a vocational training program in Knoxville, according to court documents.

Case records say Pike believed Slemmer was trying to take her boyfriend and accused her of “running her mouth.” The day before the killing, Pike told another student she wanted to kill Slemmer because she “just felt mean that day.” She was carrying a box cutter and a meat cleaver.

Pike and the other two attackers lured Slemmer away by saying they planned to visit a music store and retrieve marijuana they had hidden in a nearby park.

Once they were outside, Pike attacked Slemmer, knocking her down and striking her face with her knee and foot, court records state.

Slemmer briefly escaped and tried to run, but Pike’s boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, caught her and pinned her down. Pike then cut her with the box cutter. Although Slemmer pleaded for her life, the assault continued, and the attackers eventually gagged her with a hair tie.

Shipp also carved pentagrams into Slemmer’s face and chest.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. William Bernet testified during the trial that the killing contained “satanic elements.” He also said it reflected “collective aggression,” a phenomenon in which a group becomes emotionally aroused and engages in extraordinarily violent behavior, according to court records.

Another expert, Dr. Eric Engum, said Pike had “very severe borderline personality disorder,” along with cannabis dependence and depression. He testified, however, that she showed no evidence of brain damage or insanity.

After the killing, Pike took a fragment of Slemmer’s crushed skull as a trophy and displayed it at school, court records say. She told one friend that Slemmer had begged the attackers to stop, that she had cut the victim’s throat about six times and that Slemmer’s head was then crushed with a rock. Pike also showed another classmate her bloodstained sneakers and brought the skull fragment to breakfast the following morning.

Shipp and the third attacker, Shadolla Peterson, were not sentenced to death. Shipp was under 18 when the crime occurred and therefore could not receive a capital sentence. Peterson testified for prosecutors.

Pike’s supporters argue that her defense failed to adequately present mitigating evidence during sentencing, including untreated bipolar disorder and PTSD linked to repeated domestic violence and sexual assaults. Nearly 25,000 people signed a petition urging Gov. Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life in prison.

The court’s stay is temporary, and Pike’s legal fight is ongoing.