Christa Pike’s execution is approaching, but her legal team and numerous outside groups are asking Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to intervene. Pike, now 50, has spent nearly three decades on death row for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow Job Corps student. She was 18 when the crime occurred and remains the only woman on Tennessee’s death row. Her execution is scheduled for September 30.

Pike’s lawyers have submitted a lengthy clemency petition asking that her death sentence be changed to life without parole. They argue that her actions at 18 cannot be separated from years of severe childhood abuse, neglect, and trauma. According to the petition, she experienced repeated sexual abuse as a young child, another assault at 11, and rape again at 17. Her attorneys also point to later diagnoses of PTSD and bipolar disorder.

The appeal has drawn support from outside organizations, including Amnesty International and groups working on childhood trauma and violence against women. More than 100 organizations and experts have called on Lee to commute the sentence, while United Nations human-rights experts have also urged authorities to halt the execution.

Pike’s case remains deeply contested. Her documented history of abuse is not presented by her supporters as an excuse for Slemmer’s killing, but as important context for understanding her life and the circumstances surrounding the crime. For now, Tennessee continues to list September 30 as the execution date, leaving Pike’s clemency request before the governor. 💔