Tennessee woman faces execution in state’s first such case in two centuries

Christa Pike is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on Wednesday, in what would be the state’s first execution of a woman in 200 years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995. The three were students at Knoxville Job Corps.

Prosecutors said Pike believed Slemmer was a romantic rival and lured her to an isolated area, where the pair tortured and killed her. Pike does not deny responsibility. Her attorneys and supporters argue that execution is inappropriate because she was a teenager with untreated mental illness and a history of severe abuse and neglect.

Her lawyers say she experienced sexual abuse from early childhood and was raped at 11 and 17. They also say she was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. They argue that jurors at her sentencing were not given important information about her background or her age.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said on Monday that he would not grant clemency. Pike’s attorneys have asked the US Supreme Court to halt the execution. Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, supports the execution and says she has waited decades for Pike’s sentence to be carried out.

She has described her daughter as a friendly computer enthusiast who volunteered with the Special Olympics. Shipp, who was 17 at the time, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole and was denied parole last year. A third teenager admitted to being an accessory and received probation.

If carried out, Pike’s execution would be Tennessee’s first execution of a woman since 1820.