Christa Pike, the 50-year-old killer who survived a botched lethal injection last week, has woken up and is speaking from her hospital bed, where she remains handcuffed and shackled. Tennessee, the state that sought to end her life, is now working to save it. The mother of her victim, Colleen Slemmer, who was brutally murdered in 1995, has waited 30 years for the execution and says the survival has been retraumatising.
Failed Execution and the Victim's Mother
Pike stepped into a silent death chamber expecting to utter her last words but instead survived two lethal injections, snoring and whimpering in pain as onlookers watched in disbelief. Colleen's mother, May, told WJXX: "I think that the state owes me a big apology. And as a mother, I failed her [Colleen]."
Colleen was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, and was just 19 when she was lured to her death by Pike and two accomplices. She had been taking a computer course at Job Corps in Knoxville, Tennessee, at her grandfather's suggestion. On January 12, 1995, May spoke with her daughter for the last time over the phone, hearing how other students had been picking on her. May was forced to end the call due to a bad signal, but by the time she called back at 10 pm, Colleen was gone.
The Murder and Its Aftermath
Pike, who had been studying at Job Corps at the same time, entered into an abusive relationship with Tadaryl Shipp and became fixated on the notion that Colleen was trying to steal him away. Along with her friend Shadolla Peterson, 18, and Shipp, Pike enticed Colleen to an abandoned steam mill on the University of Tennessee's agricultural campus, gaining her trust by pretending to want to make amends.
Once there, Pike and Shipp subjected Colleen to torture using a meat cleaver and a box cutter, inflicting more than 100 injuries in just 30 minutes. Colleen's throat was repeatedly slashed, and a pentagram was carved on her bare chest by Shipp. Tennessee Attorney General's Office court documents state: "When Slemmer tried to flee, Pike sliced her stomach with the box cutter. ... As Slemmer begged for her life, Pike repeatedly kicked her in the face. Pike then cut Slemmer's throat as she begged for mercy."
Conviction and Sentencing
After the murder, Pike bragged to fellow students, showing them a fragment of Colleen's skull that she had taken as a souvenir. She was arrested within two days and admitted her guilt. The court found the murder "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death."
Pike was sentenced to death at the age of 20, making her one of the youngest women on Death Row. Shipp, a minor at the time, received a life sentence, and Peterson received probation in exchange for testifying against Pike and Shipp.
Appeals and Clemency
Pike's lawyers have argued that the state should consider her age at the time of the killing, along with her mental illness and history of childhood sexual abuse. The Supreme Court has previously dismissed an appeal, but at a recent hearing about her execution method, the state said it did not dispute that she had suffered sexual abuse and rape. Tennessee denied a recent clemency request, in which Pike said she was a "mentally ill 18-year-old kid" who was unable to "put the brakes on."
Pike's death sentence remains in place, and unless she is left medically incapacitated, Tennessee could attempt to execute her again once its current suspension of executions is lifted.
