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American murderer (born 1976)
Christa Gail Pike is an American convicted murderer. In 1995, when she was 18, Pike murdered her 19-year-old Job Corps classmate Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, Tennessee. Pike and her boyfriend lured Slemmer into the woods where they tortured and killed her. In 1996, at the age of 20, Pike was sentenced to death, making her one of the youngest women to receive a death sentence in the United States during the post-Furman period. As of 2026, 18 women have been executed nationwide since 1976, and a woman has not been executed in Tennessee in over 200 years.
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Reporter Will Puckett says he may never sign up to witness another execution after what happened to Christa Pike, but he has no regrets about being there.
Christa Pike's attorneys say she is being treated at a local hospital following a botched execution. Attorneys said they have not been informed of her condition.
Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike for a 1995 murder, but the lethal injection failed. Pike survives and was moved to a medical facility.