Christa Gail Pike, now 49, is set to be executed on September 30, 2026. She was convicted in 1996 for the brutal 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville. At just 18, Pike became the youngest woman on death row in the U.S.
Prosecutors said Pike lured Slemmer into the woods, where she was beaten and stabbed. A pentagram was carved into her chest, and Pike allegedly kept part of her skull as a trophy. “The body was so badly beaten that it looked like an animal corpse,” one witness testified.
Since 1976, only 18 women have been executed in America. Pike is expected to become the 19th. Her lawyers argue she suffered years of abuse and untreated mental illness, urging life in prison instead. “Christa has shown remorse and growth with time and treatment,” her defense team stated.
The case raises a difficult question: should justice focus on punishment—or on the possibility of rehabilitation?
