True Crime
Gov. Bill Lee denied clemency for Christa Pike, with execution set for Sept. 30. A clemency denial is not a new verdict.
On Sept. 28, 2026, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said that after deliberate consideration he is upholding Christa Gail Pike's death sentence and does not plan to intervene. She is scheduled for lethal injection on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer ·

A governor's decision not to intervene is executive clemency process, not a new trial verdict, and an execution date is a schedule. On Sept. 28, 2026, Gov. Bill Lee said he is upholding Christa Gail Pike's death sentence and does not plan to intervene, and Pike is scheduled for lethal injection on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. Attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay, and that application was still pending in Sept. 29 reporting.
Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, 19, at a Job Corps job-training camp in Knoxville.
She was 18 at the time of the offense and is now about 50, and then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17 at the time, received a life sentence.
The defense sought commutation to life. USA TODAY, BBC, and WSMV reported that she is the only woman on Tennessee's death row, and that if the sentence is carried out she would be the first woman executed in the state in more than 200 years.
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Reporting noted by WBRC, Tuscaloosa Thread, Calhoun Journal, and Tuscaloosa Patch.

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Reporting noted by High Point Police Department, WXII, FOX 35 Orlando, and News & Observer.

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Reporting noted by Chicago Police Department, ABC7 Chicago, and CBS Chicago.
