NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Monday he will not intervene in the scheduled execution of Christa Pike, rejecting her request for clemency.
“After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene,” Lee said in a statement.
Pike is scheduled to be executed Wednesday, Sept. 30. If carried out, she would be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
Her attorneys had asked Lee to commute her death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole, pointing to her childhood trauma, mental health history and what they describe as her rehabilitation and remorse during decades on death row.
In a statement Monday, Pike’s attorneys said they were “deeply saddened and heartbroken” by Lee’s decision and said they would continue to support her through every remaining avenue.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville. She was 18 at the time of the crime.
The Tennessee Supreme Court recently declined to stay Pike’s execution.
Read the full statement from Pike’s attorneys in response to Lee’s decision:
“We are deeply saddened and heartbroken by Governor Lee’s decision to deny clemency for Christa Pike. Moving ahead with her execution puts the State of Tennessee on singular footing: Christa will be the first person Tennessee executes in the modern death penalty era who was a teenager at the time of the offense and the first woman executed by the state in more than 200 years.
Throughout her childhood, Christa was failed by people and institutions that should have shown her care and meaningful intervention. Instead, her childhood was marked by repeated, documented rape and sexual abuse, neglect, and violence.
The 18-year-old girl suffering from severe mental illness and near-debilitating trauma no longer exists. Christa is a 50-year-old remorseful woman who understands her actions, receives proper treatment for her mental illness, and provides for and guides fellow incarcerated women.
With this decision, the State of Tennessee is ignoring what both science and our legal system have decided: an 18-year-old brain is not an adult brain, and 18 is too young to face execution. This decision also leaves unanswered vital questions about Tennessee’s execution protocol.
We will continue to support Christa through every remaining avenue and advocate for a system that is transparent for the people of Tennessee.”
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