Christa Pike

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Christa Pike (born March 10, 1976) is the youngest woman to be sentenced to death in the United States. She was 18 when convicted. Being female made her an unlikely candidate for death row which is the main reason for the controversy over her sentencing.^[1] Her innocent appearance has kept people perplexed.

1 Background
2 Crime
3 Trial
4 References
5 External Links

[edit] Background

Pike lived a troubled life and dropped out of high school in 1995. She joined the Job Corps, a government program aimed at helping troubled youth by offering career skills and a college-like atmosphere in Knoxville, Tennessee.^[2] Pike fell for an African-American boy named Tadaryl Shipp, 3 years her junior. Together they were involved in the occult and devil worship. ^[3]

[edit] Crime

Pike became weary of a fellow student named Colleen Slemmer, 19. She thought Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend away from her. ^[4] Though friends of Slemmer deny the accusations, Pike was set on a vendetta. Along with friend Shadolla Peterson, 18, Pike planned to lure Slemmer to an isolated steam mill that was abandoned close by on the University of Tennessee Campus.^[5]

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.^[6] Pike brought a box cutter and a meat cleaver and the three of them allegedly tortured Slemmer for almost an hour until Pike smashed her skull against the asphalt. ^[7] Pike carved a pentagramin her chest and kept a piece of her skull.^[8]

Pike began to show off the piece of skull around the school and within 36 hours, the kids were arrested.^[9] The log book showed that the four of them left together and only three returned. They also found the piece of skull in Pike's jacket pocket.^[10] Their rooms were searched and a satanic bible was found in Shipp's room. Pike insisted they were merely trying to scare her and it got out of control.^[11]

[edit] Trial

There was evidence and a confession. Pike was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder.^[12] On March 22, 1996 only after a few hours of deliberation, Pike was found guilty on both counts.^[13] On March 30, 1996, Pike was sentenced to death by electrocution for the murder charge and 25 years in prison for the conspiracy charge.^[14] Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole and Peterson received probation for pleading guilty to being an accessory.^[15] Many feel that the sentencing was too harsh considering Pike's mental stability at the time.