Advocates Plead for Christa Pike Death Sentence Commutation

Just days before Christa Pike’s scheduled Sept. 30 execution via lethal injection, youth advocates and trauma experts are urging Gov. Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life without possibility of parole. 

In 1996, Pike was sentenced to death for her part in the 1995 Knoxville-area murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Pike was 18 at the time of the murder. Now 50 years old, she is the only woman on Tennessee’s death row. If her execution is carried out, she will be the first woman executed by the state of Tennessee in more than 200 years. 

Advocates are asking the governor — the only person with the ability to intervene in the execution — to commute Pike’s death sentence, saying that for years she underwent sexual, emotional and physical abuse that began when she was a toddler. They argue that this, combined with Pike’s untreated mental illness, affected her impulse control and decision-making. Advocates say the jury in Pike’s trial did not have this context or know the full extent of her abusive upbringing. 

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Barbara Nixon is a licensed clinical social worker and a founding member of a Memphis-based adverse childhood experience (ACE) foundation. She spoke at a press conference Wednesday on Church Street in Nashville, noting that a major study bringing to light the lifelong impact of trauma on children was not released until 1998, two years after Pike’s trial. 

Sarah Bailey — a counselor and justice advocate who previously served time in prison, where she personally met Pike — is also advocating for Pike’s death sentence to be commuted. She emphasizes that while it’s important to understand the context behind Pike’s case, it’s equally as important to remember Slemmer. 

“Nothing we do now can restore Colleen’s life or remove her family’s grief, but we still get to decide what we create from what cannot be repaired,” said Bailey on Wednesday. “I also know what it means to be young inside the criminal justice system and have adults decide who you are while you are still becoming a person. … I learned quickly how a system can turn the worst thing connected to your name into your entire identity.” 

Advocates also noted Wednesday that Pike’s co-defendant Tadaryl Shipp — 17 years old at the time of the killing —received a life sentence and is now eligible for parole. 

“Who someone is at 18 does not tell us who they will be at 30, 40 or 50 years old,” said Dawn Harrington, executive director of prison advocacy organization Free Hearts. 

“Eighteen is the legal line to adulthood. It is not the moment when a young person just suddenly gains the judgment and perspective of someone who has lived decades longer. People can come to understand the weight that they’ve caused. They can change profoundly while still being held accountable.” 

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Advocates have penned several letters to the governor urging for the commutation of Pike’s sentence. While the governor has not yet publicly weighed in on Pike’s execution, he has never fully stopped an execution, though he did grant temporary reprieves in 2022 and 2026. Justice advocates believe Lee’s decision on Pike’s execution could set a precedent for similar cases. 

“He has not responded, but the governor is a fair man, and he’s a smart man,” Bailey said Wednesday. “I think this is a careful consideration that he must weigh.” 

Pike is one of just eight individuals in the past 50 years to be sentenced to death in Tennessee for a crime committed at age 18 — but she’s the only one remaining on death row. The other seven individuals are men and have received reduced sentences. 

Pike’s execution date comes during a time of increased scrutiny surrounding Tennessee’s death penalty, following the botched execution of Tony Carruthers in May after doctors struggled for nearly an hour to find a vein. Carruthers’ death sentence was halted at the last minute, leading to the governor issuing a one-year reprieve after an emergency filing with Tennessee Supreme Court. 

In January, Pike filed a legal challenge in Tennessee’s revised lethal injection protocol. Her complaint alleges the drug pentobarbital, which is used during the procedure, violates the U.S. Constitution due to Pike’s “unique medical conditions.” The Tennessee Supreme court denied Pike’s request to stop the execution, leaving the final clemency decision up to Gov. Lee.