Tennessee set to execute 1st woman in 200 years

Tennessee is set to execute Christa Gail Pike on Wednesday, marking the first execution of a woman in the state in 200 years. At 50 years old, Pike was sentenced to death at the age of 20 for the 1995 murder of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, when she was just 18 years old. Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, were convicted of stabbing and beating Slemmer during an incident at a job training facility in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Pike claimed she feared Slemmer was attempting to steal her boyfriend and testified she lured the 19-year-old to a wooded area, where she slashed Slemmer's body with a box cutter before beating her with a slab of asphalt. Shipp, who was 17 at the time, has admitted to carving a pentagram, a symbol associated with Satanism, into Pike's body.

He currently serves a life sentence for his role in the murder. The case garnered attention due to the pentagram carving and other factors that fueled fears of satanic worship during the "satanic panic" of the 1980s and 1990s. Pike maintains her guilt but has argued her age, mental illness, and history of severe sexual abuse should be considered.

Her supporters have called for Tennessee lawmakers to reconsider her death sentence, citing her age and mental health history. Pike's lawyers have also requested U.S. Supreme Court intervention to halt the execution. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has denied Pike clemency. Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, supports the death penalty, stating she wants to witness the execution.

Tennessee has not executed a woman since 1820, with just 18 women executed in the U.S. since 1976, amounting to approximately 1 percent of all executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.