Christa Pike has spent more than three decades on death row after being convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Tennessee. Now 50, Pike was scheduled for execution on September 30, 2026, but the lethal injection failed, leaving her alive and later requiring medical attention.
The murder that put Pike on death row
Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, lured Slemmer, a fellow Job Corps student, to a wooded area in Knoxville in January 1995.
Prosecutors said Pike believed Slemmer was trying to take her boyfriend. Slemmer was beaten and stabbed during the attack before she was killed. The case attracted national attention because of the brutality of the crime and a pentagram that was carved into Slemmer’s body.
Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy and sentenced to death in 1996. Shipp, who was 17 at the time, received a life sentence, while another participant, Shadolla Peterson, received a suspended sentence after cooperating with prosecutors.
More than 30 years on death row
Pike remained the only woman on Tennessee’s death row. Her lawyers later argued that her history of severe childhood abuse, mental health problems and her age at the time of the murder had not been adequately presented during sentencing.
Pike also faced another conviction while incarcerated after being found guilty of attempted first-degree murder in an attack on another inmate.
She refused a last meal
As her execution approached, Pike declined to select a traditional last meal. She had said she was at peace with her fate and was not afraid of dying, although she was nervous about the execution process.
Her execution was initially delayed by a last-minute federal appeals court stay before the US Supreme Court allowed Tennessee to proceed.
Lethal injection fails
Officials administered two doses of pentobarbital, but Pike remained alive. Witnesses reported that she remained conscious during part of the procedure and was later heard snoring. She was eventually taken from the prison to a medical facility.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee subsequently ordered an independent review and halted the state’s remaining executions for 2026. The Tennessee Department of Correction said officials had followed the state’s established execution protocol.
