Tennessee is set to execute a woman for the first time in over two hundred years, as the state’s Supreme Court has scheduled an execution date for Christa Gail Pike, the sole woman on Tennessee’s death row.
The State of Tennessee submitted a motion on September 30 to establish an execution date for the 49-year-old Pike, according to documents viewed by Fox News Digital. Her execution is planned for September 30, 2026.
If the execution goes ahead, Pike looks to be the first woman executed in Tennessee since 1820 and only the fourth in the state’s history.
Records from the Death Penalty Information Center note that Martin Eve, listed as a woman, was executed by hanging in 1820 for accessory to murder.
Christa Gail Pike was 18 when she tortured and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Defense lawyers contended that Pike’s young age, history of abuse, and subsequent diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder should prevent her execution.
“Christa’s childhood was fraught with years of physical and sexual abuse and neglect,” her attorneys said in a statement.
“With time and treatment, she has become a thoughtful woman with deep remorse for her crime,” Wednesday’s statement read.
Tennessee recently conducted an execution in 2025, after resuming capital punishment once a three-year pause was implemented to review lethal injection drug testing.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Christa Pike’s attorney for further comment.
