The US state of Tennessee is set to execute Christa Pike on September 30, making her the first woman in over 200 years to face capital punishment in the state. Pike has been on death row for three decades following the brutal 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville.
At just 18, Pike, along with her boyfriend and a friend, lured Slemmer, 19, to a secluded area. The victim was slashed with a box cutter, a pentagram carved into her chest, and a piece of her skull removed — details that shocked the nation and fueled media frenzy over alleged Satanic ritual symbolism.
While her accomplices received lesser sentences, Pike alone was sentenced to death, a punishment that has remained controversial. Ahead of the scheduled execution, activists and faith leaders, including Pastor Kevin Riggs, have staged protests at the Tennessee State Capitol, urging mercy and calling for an end to the death penalty.
The case continues to spark debate over justice, gender, and capital punishment in America, with Pike’s execution set to mark a grim milestone in Tennessee’s legal history.
