Unveiling Darkness: The Shocking Crimes Behind Tennessee’s First Female Execution in Two Centuries
Can you imagine making history for something as chilling as becoming the first woman executed in Tennessee in two centuries? Well, Christa Pike is about to do just that—and it’s no laughing matter. Back in 1995, this then 18-year-old was convicted of the gruesome murder of her 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer, whose body was found with a satanic pentagram carved onto her chest. Fast forward nearly 30 years, and after a denied clemency petition that revealed heart-wrenching details of Pike’s traumatic, abusive childhood, the state has set a date—September 30—for what could be Tennessee’s first female execution since 1820. It’s a case tangled in tragedy, twisted youth, and debates about justice and mental illness—leaving me wondering, in a world of changing perspectives, is this really the final act this story deserves? LEARN MORE
The brutal homicide of a 19-year-old woman shocked Tennessee nearly three decades ago. Now, the woman convicted in the case is set to make history.
After Christa Pike’s last attempt to live was denied, she is scheduled to receive the ultimate penalty on Wednesday, September 30, for violently ending the life of her classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995.
- Christa Pike is set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years.
- She was 18 when she was convicted of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer’s brutal homicide in 1995.
- It was only after her sentencing when her history of childhood ab*se came to light.
- “I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid,” she said in a statement included in her clemency petition, which was ultimately rejected.
If the execution takes place, Pike will be the first woman to get the d*ath sentence in Tennessee in 200 years.
Christa Pike is set to become the first woman to get the d*eath penalty in Tennessee since 1820
Trigger warning: this article contains graphic details that may be distressing to some.
Three decades have passed since the body of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer was found with a pentagram, a symbol of Satanic ritual, carved into her chest.
The case led to Christa Pike being the prime suspect, and a year later, she became one of the youngest woman to be put on de*th row in modern U.S. history.
It was only after her sentencing when the depth of the s**ual ab*se she went through as a child came to light.
On Monday, Tennessee’s governor Bill Lee denied Christa’s request for clemency.
“I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid,” the now 50-year-old woman, waiting to be executed on September 30, said in a statement included in her clemency petition.
Christa was convicted of slaying her 19-year-old Job Corps classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in 1995
On January 12, 1995, the victim named Colleen had last spoken to her mother at around 6 p.m. and said three students at her Job Corps program in Knoxville were bothering her.
It is believed Christa was one of the students she was referring to.
Later that evening, Christa managed to lure Colleen to Tyson Park, claiming she wanted to make peace with her and also offered her m*rij*ana.
It is believed Christa then tortured Colleen by physically striking her repeatedly. Her then-17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and their classmate Shadolla Peterson were accomplices.
Christa allegedly unleashed her rage on her because she thought Colleen was a romantic rival.
For about 30 minutes to an hour, Colleen begged for her life as the teenagers kicked, slashed, and beat her up.
19-year-old Colleen Slemmer was lured to a park and tortured by Christa, her boyfriend, and a third accomplice
“She wouldn’t shut up,” Christa later told the cops in a taped confession. “She kept talking and talking. She would start talking again, and I would say, ‘Shut up.’ I didn’t want to hear her talking.”
Christa delivered the fatal blow after she and her boyfriend tortured the victim and took her life.
Colleen’s body was found the next day, and cops arrested the boyfriend and girlfriend a couple of days later.
Shadolla Peterson was also arrested, but she was given six years probation after agreeing to testify against Christa and Tadaryl.
During the investigation, Christa was reportedly boastful about ending Colleen’s life and even showed off a fragment of her skull to other Job Corps students.
She was given the de*th sentence after being convicted of first-degree m**der.
Tadaryl, who had admitted to carving the star-shapped Satanic symbol into their victim’s body, was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole because of his age.
“She wouldn’t shut up,” Christa told the cops in a taped confession
Decades after the gruesome homicide, Christa does not deny her guilt.
However, her attorneys and supporters argue that being executed was too harsh a punishment to dole out to an 18-year-old, who had a history of untreated mental illness from being neglected and traumatized as a child.
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