Tadaryl Shipp

Christa Pike, aged 50, is set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in two centuries. She was convicted in the 1995 murder of her 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer, a crime committed when Pike was 18. Pike and her boyfriend were found guilty of the killing, which prosecutors described as occurring in a jealous rage. Pike's lawyers had filed a clemency petition seeking to commute her sentence, but the governor ultimately denied this request. Her scheduled execution marks a significant event in the state's penal history, highlighting a rare instance of a female inmate facing the death penalty after a lengthy period. The case has also brought attention to defense arguments that Pike may have been a victim herself.