Christa Pike is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on September 30, 2026, unless her attorneys succeed in their latest effort to stop the death sentence. Pike, now 50, was convicted for the 1995 murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville. As the date approaches, Pike says the reality has brought severe anxiety, nightmares and sleeplessness. “My nerves are shredded,” she said in a recent documentary, describing how difficult it has become to cope with knowing when she could die.

Her attorneys have filed a 226-page clemency petition, asking that her death sentence be changed to life without parole. They point to her history of childhood abuse, mental-health diagnoses and years in solitary confinement. They have also raised concerns about her rare blood disorder and argued that lethal injection could potentially be prolonged and painful. In August, Pike even asked a court to allow hanging instead of lethal injection, citing her fear of the procedure.

If the execution proceeds, Pike has made an unusual request: she wants an all-female execution team, with members of Slemmer’s family among the witnesses. Her attorneys say the request is connected to trauma she experienced from abuse by men during childhood. The unusual request has sparked heated reactions online, with some people questioning whether Pike should have any say in how her sentence is carried out.

Meanwhile, Colleen Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, says she plans to travel from Florida to Nashville to witness the execution. She said she would not speak to Pike, but would hold up a photograph of Colleen. Martinez has described carrying the loss for more than three decades and feeling that victims and their families were often overlooked during the legal process. If carried out, Pike’s execution would make her the first woman executed in Tennessee since 1819.