Women on Death Row

In Tennessee, there is currently one woman on death row. In 1996, Christa Pike was sentenced to death for the beating and then murdering of a fellow Jobs Corps worker from Knoxville, Tennessee. Pike was 19 years old when she committed her crime and at the time of her incarceration, she was the youngest person on death row at age 21. She was convicted of first-degree murder on January 12, 1995 and entered prison on March 30, 1996.

Christa Pike:

• Born in West Virginia on March 10, 1976.

• Lived in Knoxville working in the former Federal Jobs Corps Program when she committed her crime.

• On January 12, 1995, she killed Colleen Slemmer in a remote area of the University of Tennessee Agricultural campus. She beat the worker and then killed her. Pike was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death.

• On March 30, 1996, Pike entered the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center (formerly the Tennessee Prison for Women).

• On August 24, 2001, Pike strangled inmate Patricia Jones with a shoe string nearly choking her to death. She was convicted of attempted first degree murder on August 12, 2004.