Tennessee set to execute a woman for first time in 200 years
Tennessee is scheduled to execute 50-year-old Christa Pike on Wednesday, three decades after she was convicted of brutally killing a classmate — making her the first woman put to death in the state in 200 years.
Tennessee is preparing to carry out its first execution of a woman in two centuries, with 50-year-old Christa Pike scheduled to be put to death on Wednesday, according to The Guardian.
A crime committed as a teenager
Pike was 18 in 1995 when she and her then-17-year-old boyfriend killed her 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer. Court records describe the killing as exceptionally brutal, with the victim struck and cut repeatedly using a meat cleaver and a knife, portions of her skull damaged, and pentagram symbols carved into her body. The extreme violence and the young age of those involved drew significant public attention to the case at the time.
The trial and sentencing
A year after the murder, Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death, making her the youngest woman in modern US history to receive such a sentence. Her boyfriend, who was a minor at the time, was sentenced to life in prison.
Calls to halt the execution
Several human rights organizations have urged Americans to contact the governor's office asking that the planned execution be cancelled. They point to the abuse Pike suffered as a child and to untreated mental health conditions as grounds for clemency. The governor, however, has rejected the request.
Death sentences for women remain rare in the United States. Citing data from the Death Penalty Information Center, CBS News reports that of roughly 2,000 people currently on death row nationwide, only 45 are women.
