The approaching execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee is drawing renewed attention to one of the rarest aspects of capital punishment in the United States: women sentenced to death and ultimately executed.
Pike, 50, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on September 30, 2026, at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. If the execution proceeds, it would be Tennessee’s first execution of a woman in roughly two centuries.
Her case has attracted national attention not only because of the circumstances of the 1995 murder for which she was convicted, but also because executions of women remain exceptionally uncommon in the United States.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, only 18 death-sentenced women have been executed in the United States since 1976, accounting for approximately 1% of executions during the modern death-penalty era.
As of June 24, 2026, data cited by the organization showed 45 women with active death sentences across the United States.
Pike’s scheduled execution has consequently renewed discussion about women and capital punishment, the treatment of very young offenders, mitigating evidence, trauma and mental illness, as well as the experiences of victims’ families.
Who Is Christa Pike?
Christa Gail Pike was 18 years old when 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer was killed in Knoxville, Tennessee, in January 1995.
Both women were students at the Knoxville Job Corps.
Prosecutors said Pike believed Slemmer was a romantic rival and that Slemmer was lured to an isolated location before being attacked.
Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, were convicted in connection with the killing.
The case attracted widespread attention because of the severity of the attack and the young ages of those involved.
Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and was sentenced to death in 1996.
She subsequently became one of the youngest women placed on death row during the modern era of capital punishment in the United States.
When Is Christa Pike Scheduled to Be Executed?
The Tennessee Department of Correction has scheduled Pike’s execution for:
September 30, 2026, at 10 a.m. Central Daylight Time.
The execution is scheduled to take place at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee.
State correction officials have already made preparations for media witnesses and coverage of the execution.
However, an execution date does not mean that an execution is guaranteed to occur.
Pike’s attorneys have continued pursuing legal efforts to stop it.
Christa Pike Has Not Been Executed Yet
As of September 29, 2026, Pike remains alive and under an active death sentence.
Her execution is scheduled for the following morning.
This distinction is important for news reporting because legal developments can occur very close to a scheduled execution.
Pike’s attorneys filed an application with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking a stay while the justices consider issues raised in her case.
The application states that Pike is scheduled for execution at 10 a.m. CDT on September 30 and asks the Supreme Court to prevent Tennessee from carrying out the sentence while litigation continues.
Therefore, reports should describe Pike as scheduled to be executed, rather than saying that the execution has already happened.
Tennessee Governor Denies Clemency
One potential avenue for stopping Pike’s execution was executive clemency.
Her attorneys asked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life imprisonment without parole.
Lee declined to intervene on September 28.
That decision left the execution schedule in place while Pike’s lawyers continued pursuing relief through the courts.
Her legal team has argued that the circumstances surrounding her childhood, mental health and young age at the time of the crime should be considered in determining whether her death sentence should be carried out.
Pike Was 18 When the Crime Was Committed
Pike’s age has become one of the central issues raised by her attorneys and supporters.
She was 18 at the time of Slemmer’s killing.
The U.S. Supreme Court prohibits the death penalty for crimes committed by people younger than 18.
Because Pike had already reached 18, that constitutional prohibition does not automatically apply to her case.
Her lawyers nevertheless argue that scientific understanding of adolescent and young-adult brain development has advanced considerably since she was sentenced in the 1990s.
They contend that her age, background and mental-health history should carry greater weight.
The state, however, has continued to defend the validity of the conviction and death sentence.
Attorneys Point to Pike’s Traumatic Childhood
Pike’s legal team has also presented evidence concerning what they describe as an extremely abusive and unstable childhood.
According to reporting by the Associated Press, her attorneys say she experienced serious sexual abuse and neglect while growing up.
Pike was subsequently diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Her lawyers contend that important information about her childhood and mental health was not adequately presented during the penalty phase of her original trial.
They argue that a jury hearing the case today with more complete information might evaluate punishment differently.
Those arguments have become part of the campaign seeking to have her death sentence reduced to life imprisonment without parole.
Victim’s Mother Supports the Execution
The debate surrounding the case also includes the perspective of Colleen Slemmer’s family.
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, supports carrying out Pike’s death sentence.
She has emphasized the suffering experienced by her daughter and the decades that the family has waited for the sentence to be enforced.
Martinez told the Associated Press that her daughter loved roller skating, volunteered with the Special Olympics and hoped to pursue a career involving computers.
Slemmer was 19 when she was killed.
The contrasting positions illustrate one of the central tensions in capital cases: defense lawyers and death-penalty opponents may emphasize mitigation and questions surrounding punishment, while victims’ relatives may focus on the crime, loss and the sentence imposed by the courts.
What Happened to the Other People Involved?
Pike was not the only person prosecuted in connection with Slemmer’s death.
Her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, was 17 at the time.
Because of his age, he did not receive the death penalty and was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.
According to AP, he was denied parole in 2025.
Another teenager admitted involvement as an accessory and received probation.
The difference between Pike’s death sentence and Shipp’s life sentence has become another issue raised in discussions surrounding the case.
Pike Could Be Tennessee’s First Female Execution in About 200 Years
The historical significance of the case extends beyond Pike herself.
If Tennessee carries out the execution, it would be the state’s first execution of a woman since 1820, according to the Death Penalty Information Center as cited by AP.
That means Tennessee has gone roughly two centuries without executing another woman.
Female executions are not only rare in Tennessee. They are unusual across the entire United States.
How Many Women Have Been Executed in the US Since 1976?
The modern era of the U.S. death penalty generally dates from 1976, when the Supreme Court allowed revised capital-punishment statutes to move forward after earlier constitutional challenges.
Since then, only 18 death-sentenced women have been executed nationwide, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Women account for approximately 1% of executions in the modern era.
The figures illustrate the significant gender difference within capital punishment.
Men constitute the overwhelming majority of both death-row prisoners and people ultimately executed.
How Many Women Are Currently on Death Row?
According to data published by the Death Penalty Information Center and attributed to the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, 45 women had active death sentences in the United States as of June 24, 2026.
The number is extremely small compared with the overall death-row population.
The Death Penalty Information Center has previously estimated that women account for roughly 2% of people sentenced to death in the United States.
The disparity begins well before executions occur: women are substantially less common among defendants who receive death sentences in the first place.
Who Was the Last Woman Executed in the United States?
Before Pike’s scheduled execution, the most recent execution included by the Death Penalty Information Center among its list of women executed since 1976 was Amber McLaughlin, who was executed by Missouri in January 2023.
McLaughlin was a transgender woman and was widely reported as the first openly transgender person executed in the United States.
Before McLaughlin, the federal government executed Lisa Montgomery in January 2021.
Montgomery’s execution was particularly notable because she was the first female prisoner executed by the U.S. federal government in nearly seven decades.
Georgia had previously executed Kelly Gissendaner in 2015.
These long intervals further demonstrate how uncommon executions of women are.
Why Are Women Executed So Rarely?
The reasons behind the gender gap in capital punishment are complex.
Women account for a much smaller share of homicide offenders than men, which is one important factor.
But researchers and legal scholars have also studied how gender may influence charging decisions, jury perceptions, sentencing and the types of cases in which prosecutors seek capital punishment.
The Death Penalty Information Center says women facing capital punishment can encounter gender-based biases at different stages of the legal process.
Because relatively few women receive death sentences, individual female death-penalty cases frequently receive substantial national attention.
How Many Executions Have Taken Place in the US in 2026?
Capital punishment has remained active in several states during 2026.
As of the Death Penalty Information Center’s September 24 update, 28 prisoners had been executed in six states during 2026.
Those executions involved male prisoners.
Pike’s scheduled September 30 execution therefore stands apart because of the rarity of executions involving women.
The organization also reported that 55 execution dates had been scheduled by nine states for 2026 as of September 24, although not every scheduled execution ultimately takes place.
Some warrants become inactive because of stays, rescheduling, legal decisions or other developments.
No Federal Executions Are Currently Scheduled
Capital punishment in the United States operates through both state and federal systems.
Most executions occur under state law.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons currently states that there are no federal executions scheduled.
That is separate from Pike’s case, which involves a Tennessee state conviction and state death sentence.
Understanding that distinction is important because state and federal death-penalty procedures operate through different legal systems.
Death Penalty Remains a Major US Legal Debate
Capital punishment remains one of the most debated issues in the American criminal justice system.
Supporters argue that it can provide punishment proportionate to particularly serious crimes and point to the interests of victims and their families.
Opponents raise concerns about wrongful convictions, unequal application of death sentences, racial and economic disparities, mental illness, methods of execution and whether capital punishment provides benefits beyond long-term imprisonment.
Pike’s case adds additional questions involving the age of offenders.
She was legally an adult when the crime occurred, but her attorneys argue that contemporary research into brain development provides important context for evaluating crimes committed at 18.
The courts ultimately determine whether those arguments provide a legal basis for stopping an execution.
What Happens Next in the Christa Pike Case?
The immediate focus is on Pike’s legal efforts before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Her lawyers filed an application for a stay of execution after the Tennessee Supreme Court rejected her latest state-level challenge.
The filing asks the nation’s highest court to prevent Tennessee from carrying out the execution while her legal claims receive further consideration.
Meanwhile, Governor Bill Lee has declined clemency, and Tennessee continues to prepare for the scheduled execution.
Unless a court issues a stay or another legally effective intervention occurs, Pike remains scheduled to be executed at 10 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, September 30, 2026.
Because last-minute developments are possible in capital cases, her status should be checked again immediately before publication or updated if a new court order is issued.
Female Executions Remain an Exception in the US Death-Penalty System
Whatever the final outcome of Pike’s pending legal efforts, her case highlights just how uncommon executions of women remain in the United States.
Only 18 death-sentenced women have been executed nationwide since 1976, while 45 women were recorded as having active death sentences as of June 24, 2026.
Pike’s scheduled execution would also mark Tennessee’s first execution of a woman in approximately two centuries.
Those numbers place the case within a much broader story about gender, capital punishment and the changing legal debate surrounding the death penalty in the United States.
