Youngest Woman on Death Row Finally Scheduled for Execution After More Than 30 Years

Christa Pike is facing execution later this month, almost three decades after she was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. If the sentence is carried out, Pike will become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.

A resurfaced video from Pike's 1996 sentencing has also brought renewed attention to an emotional moment in the courtroom, when the then-20-year-old broke down and pleaded to hug her mother.

Footage from 30 March 1996 shows Pike crying as Knox County Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz formally imposed the death sentence. The judge told her: 'It is ordered that you shall be put to death by execution as prescribed by law.'

Pike became increasingly distressed before turning towards her mother, Carissa Hansen, who was sitting behind her.

'Can I please hug my mom before I go? Please, just let me have a hug. I love you,' Pike said.

According to contemporary reporting, Pike was not allowed to embrace her mother before she was taken from the courtroom.

The moment has resurfaced as Tennessee prepares for Pike's scheduled execution on 30 September 2026. The Tennessee Department of Correction has confirmed that the execution is scheduled for 10am local time at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

The Murder of Colleen Slemmer

Pike was 18 when she killed Slemmer, a fellow student at the Knoxville Job Corps Centre, on 12 January 1995. According to Tennessee Supreme Court records, Pike had told another student the previous day that she intended to kill Slemmer. Prosecutors said Pike, her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and Shadolla Peterson later lured Slemmer away from the Job Corps facility.

The attack was exceptionally violent. Court records said Slemmer was beaten and stabbed before Pike used a piece of asphalt to inflict fatal injuries. Pike also carved a pentagram into Slemmer's body and kept a fragment of her skull.

A jury convicted Pike of first-degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in March 1996. She was sentenced to death, becoming the youngest woman on Tennessee's death row at the time.

Shipp was 17 when the murder happened and therefore was not eligible for the death penalty. He received a life sentence. Peterson testified for prosecutors and received probation.

Nearly 30 Years on Death Row

Pike, now 50, remains Tennessee's only woman on death row. State records list her as having been on death row since March 1996.

Her defence team has continued challenging the sentence. A 226-page clemency petition submitted to Governor Bill Lee argues that Pike's severe childhood abuse, untreated mental health problems and age at the time of the crime should be considered.

Her lawyers have also challenged Tennessee's lethal-injection protocol, with an August evidentiary hearing examining concerns over her medical condition and the potential risks associated with execution.

If carried out, Pike's execution would be a historic event in Tennessee. The Death Penalty Information Centre says she would be the first woman executed in the state in more than two centuries and the only person executed in Tennessee in the modern era for a crime committed at 18, 19 or 20.

Her case remains subject to possible legal intervention and a clemency decision before the scheduled execution date.