First In 200-Years, State Executes Her, Declines Last-Meal

Prison corridor with barred doors — Photo: NGCHIYUI / Shutterstock

Tennessee plans to execute Christa Gail Pike on September 30, 2026, the state’s first female execution in more than 200 years.

Story Snapshot

The Tennessee Department of Correction set Pike’s execution for 10 a.m. Central at Riverbend.
Governor Bill Lee denied clemency and said he would not intervene.
The Tennessee Supreme Court declined to stop the execution.
Women account for a tiny share of U.S. executions; Tennessee has not executed a woman in two centuries.

The Scheduled Execution And What It Means

The Tennessee Department of Correction issued a formal notice that Pike’s execution will occur at 10 a.m. Central on September 30, 2026, at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. That single line sets history in motion because Tennessee last executed a woman more than two centuries ago. The case returns focus to the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, the conviction that followed, and three decades of review. The state now moves from process to penalty.

Governor Bill Lee denied clemency after reviewing a 226-page petition from Pike’s legal team. He said he would uphold the sentence and would not intervene. That decision closed the political door and put the final spotlight on the courts. The Tennessee Supreme Court later declined to halt the execution, leaving any last-minute relief to the federal courts. The clock now governs every motion, filing, and phone call before the warden’s signal.

The Crime, The Case, And Decades Of Appeals

Prosecutors proved Pike, then 18, and her boyfriend tortured and killed Slemmer, who was 19, during a dispute that turned brutal. The jury returned a death sentence after hearing evidence of torture and premeditation. Appeals spanned state and federal courts for years. The public record shows confirmed guilt and long litigation focused on sentencing and mitigation. Pike’s lawyers pressed claims of abuse and mental illness in the clemency bid, but the governor found the record supported the jury’s judgment.

Families on both sides have carried the weight. Slemmer’s relatives have waited for finality since 1995. Pike’s supporters have argued for mercy based on her youth at the time of the crime and her reported trauma history. The law asks jurors and governors to weigh both. Tennessee’s courts set the date, the governor declined clemency, and the Department of Correction made the logistics public. That is how the system is designed to work when the record is firm and the sentence stands.

Why This Execution Draws Outsized Attention

Executions of women are rare in the United States. Since the modern era began in 1976, women have made up about one percent of executions, and only a few hundred women have been executed across all of American history. Rarity turns a state execution into a national story. Tennessee has not executed a woman in more than two centuries, so the lens widens beyond one case to broader questions of justice, mercy, and equal treatment under law. Media attention follows that curve, not the docket.

TN 6th Court of Appeals grants stay of execution for Christa Pike https://t.co/DjHJKcyruc

— LisaHawkFan (@lisahawkfan) September 30, 2026

Common sense says equal justice means the same law for everyone, male or female. If a jury weighs the facts and finds the worst crime, the penalty should not swing on gender. Supporters of the sentence argue that the torture murder of a young woman met the standard for death under Tennessee law, and decades of review upheld that call. Critics cite trauma and youth as reasons for mercy. The state weighed both and chose finality. The principle is clear: protect the innocent, punish the guilty, and respect due process.

What Happens Next, Hour By Hour

The schedule is precise. Riverbend’s team prepares the chamber, tests lines, and sets witness lists. Legal teams watch the courts for any late stay. If no court blocks the process, the warden proceeds at the set hour. Pike’s lawyers can still seek emergency relief, but the path narrows with each ruling. After so many years, the last steps feel sudden. They are not. They are the end of a long track the system laid down one hearing at a time.