Christa Pike

Christa Gail Pike (born March 10, 1976) is an American convicted murderer, and the youngest woman to be sentenced to death in the United States during the post-Furman period.

She was 20 when convicted of the torture murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer, which she committed at age 18.

Christa Pike was born in 1976 to Carissa Hansen and Emil Glenn Pike in Beckley, West Virginia.

Her parents had a tumultuous relationship, being married for two years, divorced for a year after Hansen was found to be cheating, and remarried for another two years after Hansen attempted suicide.

Both of them were frequently negligent.

An aunt noted that infant Pike would be "crawling around through piles of dog stool all over the house," and that Hansen wanted to keep partying when she received news that her toddler was experiencing severe seizures.

Pike's paternal grandmother would frequently help care for her; Pike believed she was the only one who ever loved her.

When her grandmother died in 1988, Pike would make her first suicide attempt at age 12, for which she received little support.

Pike's living situation continued to be unstable throughout her teenage years as she was both the recipient, and perpetrator, of violence.

One of her mother's boyfriends punched her in the face; criminal charges were filed, then settled.

While staying with her father's new family, one of her young half-sisters claimed to have been molested by Pike, causing her father to send her away.

Pike additionally claimed to have been sexually assaulted or molested at several points in time; her friends and family doubt these occurrences, noting that she is a pathological liar.

In one incident, a man phoned claiming that he was going to rape her; in response, Pike and a friend beat him with a stick in a parking lot.

Although she had been bright as a child, her unstable home life caused her to frequently change schools, causing her performance in school to deteriorate.

In tenth grade, she was sent to a juvenile facility for a year, where she became interested in the Job Corps, a government program aimed at helping low-income youth by offering vocational training and career skills.

In the fall of 1994, Pike attended the now-closed Job Corps center in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Pike began dating a man a year her junior named Tadaryl Shipp.

Together, they developed interest in the occult and devil worship.

Christa became jealous of her Job Corps classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, who she thought was trying to "steal" her boyfriend from her; friends of Slemmer denied the accusations.

Along with friend Shadolla Peterson, 18, Pike planned to lure Slemmer to an isolated, abandoned steam plant near the University of Tennessee campus.

On January 12, 1995, Pike, Shipp, Peterson, and Slemmer signed out of the dormitory and proceeded to the woods, where Slemmer was told they wanted to make peace by offering her some marijuana.

Upon arrival at the secluded location, Slemmer was attacked by Pike and Shipp while Peterson acted as lookout.

According to later court testimony, for the next thirty minutes Slemmer was taunted, beaten, and slashed; and a pentagram was carved in her chest.

Finally, Pike smashed Slemmer's skull with a large chunk of asphalt, killing her.

Pike kept a piece of Slemmer's skull.

Pike began to show off the piece of skull around the school, and within thirty-six hours the three were arrested.

The log book showed that Pike, Shipp, Peterson, and Slemmer left together and only three returned.

Detectives found the piece of skull in Pike's jacket pocket.

Soon after her arrest, Pike confessed to police of the torture and killing of Slemmer, but insisted they were merely trying to scare her and it got out of control.

During Pike's trial, the prosecution was aided by evidence and Pike's confession.

Pike was charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

On March 22, 1996, after only a few hours of deliberation, Pike was found guilty on both counts.

On March 30, Pike was sentenced to death by electrocution for the murder charge and 25 years in prison for the conspiracy charge.

Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole plus 25 years.

Peterson, who had turned informant, received probation for pleading guilty to being an accessory after the fact.

Following the guilty verdict, Pike "launched, cancelled and then re-launched" an appeal of her conviction in the Tennessee state courts.

In June 2001, then again in June 2002, against the advice of her lawyers, Pike asked the courts to drop her appeal and sought to be executed via electrocution.

Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz granted the request and an execution date of August 19, 2002, was set.

Pike soon thereafter changed her mind and on July 8, 2002, defense lawyers filed a motion to allow the appeal process to continue.

This motion was denied.