High Stakes: Could Tennessee's First Female Execution in 200 Years Turn Tragic?

A warning has been issued over lethal injections, ahead of Christa Gail Pike's execution on September 30, 2026. It's been over three decades since PIke was sentenced to death after she was found guilty of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, aged just 18. Pike is the only female on death row in the US state, and is set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee for over 200 years. It's said that she had become jealous of her boyfriend at the time, believing that Slemmer was interested in him while they were part of the Knoxville Job Corps program. She would respond by murdering her classmate, using a cleaver, a box cutter, and a piece of asphalt after luring her to the woods, beating and stabbing her before carving a pentagram into her chest. Pike is also serving time for the attempted murder of an inmate in 2004. Now, an expert has highlighted the risks of using lethal injections as a method of death, weeks before Pike is executed. Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, was convicted in the 1995 death of student Colleen Slemmer, 19. Credit: the Tennessee Department of Correction Warning over the lethal injection Pike is set to die by lethal injection, despite her protests, in a method which has been criticized over the years by experts. Matt Wells, the Deputy Director of Reprieve US , a non-profit organization that fights for justice for marginalized people who are facing human rights abuses, claims that the method isn't clean-cut. Speaking to UNILAD , Wells explained: "Two months ago, Tony Carruthers was strapped to a gurney for over an hour while prison staff stabbed him with needles more than a dozen times as they failed to establish an IV line." Due to medics failing to find a vein, his execution had to be halted, with some describing the situation as "barbaric," with the inmate forced to endure intense pain for over an hour. Wells claimed that this wasn't the only occasion, adding: "Our research showed that more than a quarter of botched lethal injections in the modern era lasted over an hour." He said that Tennessee going ahead with the method after torturing Carruthers was "beyond belief," further adding: "There is a high risk that Christa Pike could suffer a prolonged and agonizing death." He also claimed that US states go out of their way to "hide information about executions," to trick the American public into thinking that the lethal injection is humane. Wells stated: "The reality is there is no such thing." Her attorney, Stephen Ferrell, also raised concerns about Pike's blood condition, thrombocytopenia, which can lead to excessive bleeding, while pointing out her small veins. "The difficulty establishing IV lines is a known complication that has caused prolonged and botched executions for years," Ferrell pointed out, while also making a special request to the state. Christa Pike is facing execution in September. Credit: Death Penalty Information Center Pike has been appointed a "special master" Shelby County Senior Judge Mark Ward has been appointed as special master by the Tennessee Supreme Court ahead of Pike's execution. Ward's job will be to assess whether the execution is constitutional, as Pike's legal team has spoken at length about the 50-year-old's physical and mental health. He will also decide whether Pike will undergo too much pain during execution, going through options alongside the inmate's Buddhist advisor with her. But with Ward being appointed, the case has become the first of its kind in Tennessee to have a special master involved. Featured image credit: The Tennessee Department of Correction