The state of Tennessee may soon carry out its first execution of a woman in over 200 years after the Tennessee Supreme Court approved a request to move forward with the death sentence of Christa Gail Pike. Pike, now 49, has spent decades on death row, and her case has long drawn attention for its brutality, her age at the time of the crime, and the rarity of female executions in the United States. If carried out, her execution would mark a historic moment in Tennessee’s criminal justice history, highlighting both the enduring debate over the death penalty and the extraordinary circumstances surrounding her crime.

n January 12, 1995, Pike lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer into a wooded area near the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus. Slemmer, like Pike, was enrolled in the Job Corps program, and both young women were reportedly familiar with one another through campus activities. According to investigators, the incident that led to Slemmer’s murder began as a result of jealousy. Pike had become convinced that Slemmer was romantically interested in her boyfriend, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp. Whether the belief was based on fact or imagination, it quickly escalated into obsession, setting the stage for a premeditated and horrifying act of violence.