Christa Pike’s legal team is pressing forward with emergency appeals after Tennessee’s highest court refused to halt her execution.
Pike, now 49, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on September 30 for the 1995 murder of fellow Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer, 19, in Knoxville. She was 18 at the time of the killing and became the youngest woman ever sentenced to death in American history. Her trial concluded in March 1996 in Knox County, Tennessee, with convictions on first-degree murder and conspiracy charges.
Two accomplices participated in the crime but escaped her fate. Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17 at the time and dating Pike, received life with possibility of parole because Tennessee law then barred death sentences for offenders under 18. The third participant, Shadolla Peterson, then 19, took a plea deal and testified against the couple.
Peterson pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and received six years probation, according to Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals records. Her cooperation with prosecutors secured her freedom while her co-defendants faced decades behind bars.
Shipp’s path diverged sharply from Peterson’s. He remains incarcerated after the Tennessee Board of Parole denied his release in October 2025. Board member Tim Gobble cited the seriousness of the murder in his denial vote and recommended Shipp’s case return for review in October 2030.
The crime itself stemmed from Pike’s belief that Slemmer was attempting to “steal” Shipp from her. In January 1995, Pike and another student lured Slemmer to an isolated spot with promises of smoking marijuana and making peace. Evidence presented at trial indicated the attack lasted between 30 minutes and an hour. Pike later told a friend she had kept a piece of Slemmer’s skull as a souvenir. A University of Tennessee employee discovered the body the following day.
Pike’s defenders have mounted an extensive clemency push, filing a 226-page document with Governor Bill Lee’s office. Their argument centers on her youth at the time of the offense, her traumatic upbringing, and evolving scientific understanding of adolescent brain development.
“We are deeply disappointed in the Tennessee Supreme Court’s decision, but we will press forward, seeking relief from the U.S. Supreme Court while also continuing our request that Governor Lee grant Christa clemency,” Stephen Ferrell of the Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee and Kelly Gleason of the Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender said in a joint statement.
“Christa was just 18 years old at the time of the crime, had endured a childhood of horrific rape, sexual and physical abuse, suffered from serious undiagnosed mental illness, and was sentenced before we understood what we know today about adolescent brain development and the profound effects of childhood trauma,” the statement continued.
The lawyers also emphasized transformation over time, noting that 30 years after the killing, Pike is “a stable, deeply remorseful woman who understands the terrible harm caused by her actions.”
Should the execution proceed, Pike would become the first woman executed in Tennessee in two centuries. Her clemency request remains pending with the governor as defense attorneys simultaneously pursue federal appellate options.
The case has drawn renewed attention to the disparate outcomes for the three participants in Slemmer’s death, with Pike facing execution while one accomplice serves life and another walked free with probation.