On the night of January 12, 1995, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer walked into an isolated area near the University of Tennessee campus. She would never walk out alive. At the centre of the case was an 18-year-old woman named Christa Pike — a teenager whose childhood, relationships and increasingly disturbing behaviour would become crucial to understanding how Colleen’s murder happened. Christa was found guilty of Colleen’s murder and is scheduled for execution on September 30, 2026.
On March 10, 1976, Christa Gail Pike was born prematurely in West Virginia to Emil ‘Glenn’ Pike and Carissa Hansen. Her parents’ relationship was unstable. Glenn would claim that Carissa drank alcohol and smoked while she was pregnant – Carissa denied these claims. Court records describe a family environment involving alcohol, conflict and periods when Christa moved between her parents. Christa has at least one confirmed half-sibling – an older sister named Alicia (Pike) Willis. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals record specifically identifies Alicia as Christa’s maternal half-sister, meaning they had the same mother, Carissa Henson, but different fathers.
An aunt reported that Christa grew up in filth and was often found crawling on floors littered with ‘piles of dog stool.’
Glenn would later say that he was frequently away from his family with work and that he had a difficult relationship with Christa.
Her father, Glenn, testified that he was frequently away working and that his relationship with Christa was difficult. He acknowledged that he had kicked Christa out of his home twice, including in 1989, when she was about 13. He also acknowledged signing adoption papers for her before she turned 18.
Her mother, Carissa, was a licensed practical nurse.
Christa was raised in her early years by her paternal grandmother. Multiple psychological assessments described the grandmother as the only person with whom Christa formed a strong bond.
Christa’s grandmother died in 1988 when Christa was 12. It was around this time that Christa made her first suicide attempt. Later defence material would state that Christa believed her grandmother was the ‘ only person who really loved her.’
She would say that after Christa’s paternal grandmother died, Christa lived with her mother most of the time. The court record describes Christa’s mother’s home as chaotic and, according to her aunt’s testimony, sometimes very dirty and lacking basic structure and rules.
Christa’s maternal grandmother was described as an alcoholic and was said to be verbally abusive. Alcoholism was said to run in the family and Christa’s mother was known to be a heavy drinker.
Christa’s aunt said that the family was full of violence, alcohol and that threats were not uncommon. That same aunt also said that Christa’s maternal grandfather owned a meat packing plant and a slaughterhouse, and that Christa was exposed to animal death at a young age.
Christa would report to psychologists that she had experienced both physical and sexual abuse while she was growing up. One expert would testify that Christa said she had been raped by a neighbor and that her family did not believe her story about what happened. Other allegations involved adults in her mother’s household.
As a teen, Christa was said to have serious behavioural problems, drug addiction, episodes of rage, and issues with self harm. She spent time in a juvenile facility and struggled with both relationships and authority.
There was an incident where one of her mother’s boyfriends punched her in the face after Christa chased him with a butter knife.
She also had significant educational difficulties, including failing third grade, although later neuropsychological testing found her intellectual functioning to be considerably better than her educational history suggested.
Christa moved from West Virginia to Tennessee and she enrolled in the Job Corps program in Knoxville. She had aspirations of becoming a nurse.
Federal documents describing the Knoxville centre’s development say it was designed to accommodate approximately 500 young people, with residential, educational and vocational facilities. The intended age range was roughly 16–21. Students could receive occupational training alongside continuing or remedial academic education. Students couldn’t simply come and go without accountability. The centre had sign-out/pass-leave procedures, which were part of the Job Corps regulations.
In 1995, when Christa was 18, she met Colleen Slemmer. Colleen was 19 and was also a student at the Knoxville Job Corps Center.
As some background into Colleen, she was born Colleen Anne Slemmer. She was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Orange Park, Florida with her family. Her mother was May Martinez, and her stepfather was Raul Martinez. Her biological father was Mike Deacy, who was living in Pennsylvania. Colleen’s parents appear to have been separated, and she maintained relationships with both sides of her family.
Colleen was said to enjoy roller skating, mini golf and physical activity.
Colleen struggled with reading but excelled in areas of computing. One of her favourite T-shirts reportedly said “computer geek.”
Colleen also volunteered at Special Olympics events and helped children with disabilities.
Colleen had originally been attending the Job Corps program in Jacksonville, Florida but she transferred to the Knoxville program as it offered the computer training that she wanted.
Back to the main story. The environment at the Job Corps program was said to be unsafe. Students would carry around razor blades and box cutters to protect themselves and there were many gangs.
During Christa’s junior year, she began dating a boy named Tadaryl Shipp. He was said to be obsessed with witchcraft and taught Christa about satanism and the occult. Tadaryl was said to be abusive and other students feared coming into contact with him. He was physically abusive to Christa – he would hit and kick her and forbade her from interacting with other boys. Christa also made friends with Shadolla Peterson. Shadolla was 18 years old. She knew Christa, Tadaryl and Colleen through the Knoxville Job Corps center.
Some reports indicate that Tadaryl cheated on Christa with Colleen. This made Christa jealous and she thought Colleen was trying to steal her boyfriend.
It would later be said that Colleen had gone into Christa’s room with a box cutter and had destroyed some of Christa’s belongings, including photos of her beloved grandmother.
On January 11, 1995, Christa spoke to Kimberly Iloilo, another Job Corps student. She said “I’m going to kill Colleen.”
Kimberly later testified that Christa said she wanted to kill Colleen because she had “just felt mean that day.”
Kimberly did not report the threat to anyone.
The morning of the murder was January 12, 1995. Colleen was seen at the Job Corps centre. Fellow student Andrew Drace said that he spoke to Colleen and she asked if he had seen Tadaryl.
Another student, Daniel Wayland, said he saw Christa, Shadolla and Tadaryl looking for Colleen. Daniel recalled that one of them said “When we find her, she’s dead.”
Christa would later say that she hadn’t set out with the intention to murder Colleen. But she did leave the Job Corps center at this time with a box cutter and a miniature meat cleaver.
Christa spoke to Colleen and told her that she wanted to give her some marijuana, and make peace following their previous run-ins. She said that the marijuana was hidden in a nearby park. Christa, Colleen, Tadaryl and Shadolla signed out of the dorm and headed to the University of Tennessee agricultural campus.
When the group arrived at a secluded area, Christa and Tadaryl began to attack Colleen and Shadolla acted as a look out. Colleen was said to have been taunted, beaten and slashed for over thirty minutes. Tadaryl also carved a pentagram into her chest while she was still alive. Christa eventually killed Colleen by smashing her skull with a large chunk of asphalt. She kept a piece of Colleen’s skull.
Christa took the skull piece to school and began to show it to other students. Within 36 hours, she, Tadaryl and Shadolla were arrested. The arrest came following examination of the log book where four of them signed out, and Colleen did not return. Detectives found the piece of the skull in Christa’s jacket pocket.
Colleen’s body was found on January 13, 1995. She was determined to have died from blunt force trauma to the head.
On January 14, Christa confessed to killing Colleen. She waived her Miranda rights and told police what happened. She insisted that she, Tadaryl and Shadolla were only trying to scare Colleen and that things had gotten out of control.
All three were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Tadaryl had turned 17 two months before the murder and it was decided that he would be tried as an adult.
Shadolla agreed to become a witness for the prosecution, and she received probation after pleading guilty to being an accessory after the fact.
Prosecutors announced that they were going to seek the death penalty for Christa and life in prison without parole for Tadaryl.
Christa’s trial began in March 1996.
The prosecution had to prove premeditated first-degree murder, not simply that Pike had killed Colleen Slemmer.
The State’s case was built around several pieces of evidence:
- Christa telling Kim that day before the murder that she intended to kill Colleen.
- Christa lured Colleen to an isolated location.
- She took weapons with her.
- The attack on Colleen went for a substantial period – approx 30 mins to one hour.
- The fact that Christa had told officials that she left Colleen during the attack to check if there were any nearby witnesses.
The defence did not primarily argue that Christa had not killed Colleen.
Instead, they tried to convince the jury that Christa was incapable of forming the particular mental state required for deliberate and premeditated murder.
The defence called clinical psychologist Dr Eric Engum.
He testified that Christa had:
- severe Borderline Personality Disorder
- cannabis dependence
- problems controlling her behaviour
- significant interpersonal problems
The actual trial ran for around one week (excluding jury selection etc). After only a few hours of deliberation, Christa was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. On March 30, she was sentenced to death by electrocution for Colleen’s murder. She also received 25 years for conspiracy.
Tadaryl went to trial in July 1996.
Prosecutors portrayed the murder as being connected to Tadaryl’s relationship with Christa..
The State’s theory was that Christa believed Colleen was interested in Tadary and that this contributed to the hostility toward Colleen.
The defence focused heavily on Tadaryl’s age at the time of the murder (17), his individual role and the question of whether the State had proved the necessary level of intent.
He was found guilty of
1. First-degree murder
2. Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder
The jury could not unanimously agree that he should spend the rest of his natural life in prison, so he received life imprisonment with the possibility of parole rather than life without parole. Due to his age, he was not eligible for the death penalty.
He was also sentenced to 25 years for conspiracy.
The original trial judge ordered the 25-year conspiracy sentence to run consecutively to the life sentence.
Jumping ahead slightly, Tadaryl is still in prison as of September 2026. He had a parole hearing in October 2025, but was denied parole.
After Christa was found guilty and sentenced to death, the appeals process began.
In 1998, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld her death sentence
The court found that the alleged errors raised by Christa during her appeal did not warrant overturning the conviction or sentence.
In August 2001, Christa attacked another inmate, Patricia Jones. She was subsequently convicted of attempted first-degree murder and received an additional 25-year sentence.
Around this time, Christa attempted to halt the appeals in her case. She told the courts that she wanted to stop fighting her death sentence and be executed.
Her attorneys opposed the request and sought to continue the appeals process.
In 2002, a state appeals panel ruled that the legal proceedings should continue.
By 2008, Christa seemed to have changed her mind and she attempted to have her death sentence overturned. This attempt was rejected.
In 2012, Christa put together a plot to escape from prison. Prison officials received information about a planned escape and brought in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
According to the indictment, part of the proposed scheme involved tracing one of the prison’s keys and having a duplicate made. Authorities deliberately released few additional details because of security concerns.
Two men were arrested in connection with the plot. Justin Heflin, a former corrections officer at the prison, was accused of accepting bribes and helping facilitate the escape. Donald Kohut, a New Jersey man who knew Pike and frequently visited her in prison, was charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit escape. Heflin was fired, while Kohut was arrested in New Jersey and faced extradition to Tennessee.
A federal court challenge was held in 2016. Christa again attempted to challenge her conviction and her death sentence. A federal judge ruled that both should be upheld
On September 30, 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court formally set September 30, 2026 as Christa’s execution date. She is set to be executed at 10am Central Time at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee.
She remains the only woman on Tennessee’s death row.
Following the execution date confirmation, Christa’s attorneys launched their clemency effort.
They have argued that Christa was only 18 when she committed the crime, had suffered severe childhood abuse and had significant untreated mental-health problems.
They are asking Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life imprisonment.
If the execution goes ahead, she would become the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years.
In terms of what will happen in the days leading up to the execution, Christa is expected to be moved into heightened execution-related custody and ultimately into the state’s execution preparation area.
Tennessee’s current protocol includes a period of isolation before an execution. One of Christa’s legal challenges specifically objects to the 14-day isolation period and the restrictions on communication during the final 12 hours.
Her attorneys, spiritual adviser and approved visitors can potentially have contact with her before the restrictions take effect, subject to the state’s rules.
Christa now practices Buddhism, and her lawyers have challenged Tennessee’s restrictions because her Buddhist spiritual adviser would not have the same access that the state permits for certain approved clergy.
On the morning of Wednesday, September 30 media check-in at Riverbend will began at 7:30 a.m. Media cannot enter the designated area after 8:30 a.m.
There will be a small group of official witnesses inside the prison. Tennessee law requires media witnesses, and TDOC selected seven media witnesses plus alternates through a drawing.
Christa will be permitted a final meal under Tennessee Department of Correction rules. Details of what she requests may not be known until afterward, and she is not required to accept a special meal.
Immediately before the execution, Christa will have an opportunity to make a last statement.
That statement can be witnessed by people inside the execution chamber and subsequently reported by the media witnesses.
Tennessee’s current protocol uses pentobarbital as a single-drug lethal injection rather than the three-drug combination previously used by the state. That protocol took effect in December 2024.
The drug is intended to cause unconsciousness followed by respiratory and cardiac arrest.
Christa’s lawyers have specifically challenged this method because they argue her medical conditions could make the process dangerous and potentially cause unnecessary suffering. The state has disputed that contention, and a recent special-master proceeding did not find that Christa had demonstrated a substantial risk of unconstitutional suffering.
Info from the Guardian:
On 30 September, the state of Tennessee plans to put Christa Pike to death. She would be the third person brought to the death chamber in the Volunteer state this year, one of which was stopped after it was botched.
She would join 17 others who have been put to death there since 1960. None of them were women.
In fact in all of US history, only 578 women have been executed, a little more than 3% of our country’s total. The last one was Amber McLaughlin, killed in Missouri in 2024. If Pike is killed, it would be Tennessee’s first execution of a woman since 1819.
As part of the bid for clemency, Christa’s lawyers have released a baby photo of her.
Her lawyers describe the image as showing a little girl with curly red hair and large brown eyes, and say it was taken around the time she was first sexually abused by her grandmother’s boyfriend. They argue the photograph represents a devastating turning point in Christa’s childhood and illustrates the abuse and instability that surrounded her from a very young age.
Amnesty International have also joined the fight to get clemency for Christa.
Amnesty argues that Christa’s court-appointed lawyers failed to adequately present evidence about her childhood trauma and its psychological effects to the jury. The organisation also points to Christa’s age at the time of the crime, noting that brain development and emotional maturity continue into a person’s 20s. Amnesty says a federal appeals judge previously indicated he would have overturned Christa’s death sentence but was prevented from doing so because of procedural restrictions.
SOURCE LIST
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_Pike
https://law.justia.com/cases/tennessee/court-of-criminal-appeals/2011/e2009-00016-cca-r3-pd.html
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BSEZ_lV40xlIsEVBuQV8zkvP2nSKS3Gc/view?usp=embed_facebook
https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/christa_gail_pike_v_state_of_tennessee.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/04/tennessee-executes-first-woman-since-1819