Christa Gail Pike will not receive clemency in Knoxville before her scheduled execution, Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday. The governor stated he does not plan to intervene in the state death sentence. The scheduled execution is set for Wednesday, Sept. 30.
The decision followed a clemency petition filed earlier this month by Pike’s legal team. Her attorneys requested that the state commute her death sentence to life in prison without parole.
Lee released a statement explaining his choice on Monday.
“After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene,” Lee said.
Pike was convicted of the 1995 torture and murder of Colleen Slemmer. Slemmer was a fellow Job Corps student. The crime occurred on the University of Tennessee Agriculture campus in Knoxville.
Her defense team expressed sadness over the governor’s decision in a written response.
“We are deeply saddened and heartbroken by Governor Lee’s decision to deny clemency for Christa Pike. Moving ahead with her execution puts the State of Tennessee on singular footing: Christa will be the first person Tennessee executes in the modern death penalty era who was a teenager at the time of the offense and the first woman executed by the state in more than 200 years.”
Her attorneys stated that Pike endured trauma and abuse throughout her childhood. They said she is now a 50-year-old woman who receives treatment for mental illness.
Executive clemency allows a state governor to reduce a criminal sentence. A commutation replaces a death sentence with life imprisonment.
Pike is scheduled to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. Her attorneys vowed to continue supporting her through all remaining legal avenues in Knoxville.
