Disturbing act death row inmate did after murder as US state prepares to execute first woman in over 200 years
Christa Gail Pike was just 18 years old when she brutally murdered a fellow classmate
Details of death row inmate Christa Gail Pike's chilling acts are resurfacing as she faces becoming the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in 200 years.
Pike, who is now 49 years old, is facing execution for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, who was lured to the woods by Pike and two others in Knoxville, Tennessee on January 12, 1995.
More than 30 years after the brutal killing, the Tennessee Supreme Court has now scheduled Pike's execution to take place on September 30, 2026, at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
The state's Supreme Court order is obligated to notify Pike of the method that the Department of Correction will use to execute her by August 28, 2026.
What did Christa Gail Pike do?
Pike became the youngest person on death row when she received her sentence at 20 years old in 1996, as a result of the crimes that took place when she was just 18.
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She and Slemmer were both students at a career training program for troubled teenagers in Knoxville, and prosecutors claimed Pike had believed Slemmer had wanted to steal Pike's boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp.
Both Shipp and another of Pike's friends, Shadolla Peterson, are believed to have helped her carry out the murder by luring Slemmer into a wooded part of the University of Tennessee's campus
It was there that Slemmer, 19, was cut with a box cutter, with Pike carving a pentagram on to her chest.
The killer also struck Slemmer with a cleaver and crushed her skull with a piece of asphalt.
Slemmer's body was later discovered by a groundskeeper who described her as being 'so badly beaten that he had first mistaken [her body] for the corpse of an animal', according to court records cited by CBS News.
What did Pike do after the murder?
After leaving Slemmer in the woods, Pike is said to have collected up a piece of Slemmer's skull, which she kept as a trophy of the killing.
Later, she showed it to classmates and even bragged about killing Slemmer, claiming that she'd continued the violence against her even when Slemmer 'begged' her to stop.
What was Pike convicted of?
When police connected Pike to Slemmer's death, she was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.
Shipp was also convicted of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to life in prison with the chance to become eligible for parole in November.
Peterson, who allegedly kept watch during the attack, was sentenced to probation after testifying against Pike.
Emily Brown