What This Story Is About
The only woman on Tennessee’s death row, Christa Gail Pike, has declined to pick a last meal.
Why It Matters
Generally, Tennessee inmates on death row are offered the chance to select a special last meal, within a set of parameters, but Pike has declined to do so.
What Happens Next
Assuming there are no complications, Pike will be the first woman Tennessee has executed in more than 200 years when the state performs a lethal injection Wednesday.
For Context
Pike was found guilty in 1996 of the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer on the University of Tennessee campus the year before.
Catch Up
Pike’s legal team and advocate groups have called for Pike’s sentence to be reduced, as the woman was only a teenager when she was sentenced to death. Gov. Bill Lee confirmed Monday he would not be intervening.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Christa Gail Pike decided not to pick a last meal, according to the state’s department of correction.
Generally, Tennessee inmates on death row are offered the chance to select a special last meal, within a set of parameters, but Pike has declined to do so.
Assuming there are no complications, Pike will be the first woman Tennessee has executed in more than 200 years when the state performs a lethal injection Wednesday.
The only woman on Tennessee’s death row was found guilty in 1996 of the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer on the University of Tennessee campus the year before. Pike worked with two others — 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp and 18-year-old Shadolla Peterson — to plan and carry out the torture and killing of Slemmer in a case that later became known as the Jobs Corps Murder (due to both Pike and Slemmer being Jobs Corps members at the time).
The case itself has drawn attention from all over the country, due in part to the grisly details of Slemmer’s killing. Evidence and testimony found the offenders had cut a pentagram into Slemmer’s chest and taken a piece of her skull as a souvenir of the killing.
That said, the decision to kill Pike has proven to be a controversial one. Her legal team and advocate groups across the state have called for Pike’s sentence to be reduced, citing her young age at sentencing and a tumultuous childhood for Pike.
Monday, Gov. Bill Lee confirmed he would not be stepping in to stop Pike’s execution.
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