Tennessee to execute woman for 1995 murder, committed when she was 18

Tennessee is set to execute Christa Gail Pike for a murder she committed in 1995, at the age of 18. It will be the state’s first execution of a woman in at least 200 years. Pike, now 50, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday morning by lethal injection, the Associated Press reported. 
Pike and her boyfriend were convicted of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, who was a classmate at a job training facility in Knoxville. The case drew national attention in part because of a pentagram that was carved into Slemmer’s body. This was during the “satanic panic” of the 1980s and 1990s. 
Supporters had argued the state should consider Pike’s age at the time of Slemmer’s killing, as well as her history of mental illness and sexual abuse. The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a request from Pike’s attorneys to halt the execution, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee denied Pike clemency on Monday. 
Pike doesn’t deny she committed the killing, and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, has admitted he carved a pentagram into Slemmer’s body. Shipp was 17 when the crime was committed, which made him ineligible for the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

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