Tennessee to execute first woman in 200 years after governor denies clemency for Christa Pike

Christa Pike, a Tennessee woman who was convicted of murder three decades ago, is set for execution on Wednesday, September 30, after the governor denied her clemency appeal.

It will mark the first time in 200 years in Tennessee state that a woman will be executed.

Pike, who is 50 now, was 18 when she killed their classmate, Colleen Slemmer, 19 then, at Knoxville Job Corps in 1995.

Christa Pike’s alleged letter surfaced in the media just before she came to know that Governor Bill Lee had denied her clemency appeal.

“Whether my clemency is granted or not, I am at peace,” convicted murderer Christa Pike wrote, a copy of which is accessed by NBC News.

“I am not afraid to die. I’m only nervous about the process,” the killer wrote to the outlet.

Pike’s attorneys have asked the Supreme Court to halt the execution, citing her struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and the possible “severe mental suffering and superadded psychological terror” from being strapped to a gurney to receive the lethal injection.

Pike has also reportedly requested an all-female lethal injection team to carry out her execution, claiming she could be traumatized by having men involved in her execution.

Tennessee corrections officials have said they would consider some of the killer’s requests, including granting her request for an all-female execution team.

Pike, when sentenced to death back in March 1996, was the youngest woman to ever be awarded a death sentence.

She filed the clemency appeal of 226 pages in September this year.