Tennessee plans rare execution of a woman. She's fighting back.
USA TODAY
The murder that Christa Pike was convicted of demonstrated a brutality and callousness not often seen in women, let alone one so young.
Christa Gail Pike was just 18 years old when she committed a crime that dominated headlines for years: She tortured and murdered her romantic rival in Tennessee and later showed off a piece of the 19-year-old woman's skull to schoolmates.
The killing in the woods of Knoxville demonstrated a brutality and callousness rarely seen in a woman, let alone one so young. Now 30 years later, Pike is back to making headlines as the state of Tennessee prepares to execute her.
Pike, who just turned 50 on March 10, is set to be executed by lethal injection about six months from now on Sept. 30 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. On Jan. 12, 1995, Pike and two others lured Slemmer into the woods and carried out a ritualistic murder that lasted about an hour.
If the execution moves forward, Pike will be the first woman put to death in Tennessee in more than 200 years and only the 19th woman executed in modern U.S. history.
She's now fighting back and suing the state to stop her execution.
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