As the decades-long effort to overturn her death sentence runs out of time, Christa and her legal team try to prove that she’s a changed person.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

As the decades-long effort to overturn her death sentence runs out of time, Christa and her legal team try to prove that she’s a changed person. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the decades-long effort to overturn her death sentence runs out of time, Christa and her legal team try to prove that she’s a changed person.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="noopener noreferrer">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Episode 5 - Christa Fights to Stay Alive

On a January night in 1995, 18-year-old Christa Pike and two other teenagers lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer to a secluded area near the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. They taunted, beat, and slashed Colleen, carving a pentagram into her chest, before Christa picked up a piece of concrete and smashed Colleen&rsquo;s skull, killing her. Those salacious details stood out during a national Satanic Panic over ritual abuse and suburban cults. The Knoxville News Sentinel later accused Christa of killing &ldquo;for love and Satan.&rdquo; She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by electrocution&mdash;one of the youngest women ever to be sentenced to death in the United States.
&nbsp;
Thirty years later, Christa is still alive, incarcerated at a Nashville prison and the only woman on death row in Tennessee. She has spent much of her adult life in solitary confinement. In the decades since the murder, evolving understanding about brain science and trauma have cast Christa&rsquo;s wildly violent act&mdash;and death sentence&mdash;in a new light. We now know that the brain of an 18-year-old remains underdeveloped and impulsive. Christa has a horrific history of abuse, violence, and family neglect; the first time she attempted suicide, she was 9 years old. That kind of trauma can arrest healthy development, leading some young adults down a disastrous path.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
As Christa approaches her final appeals, a team of state and federal defenders are urgently trying to save Christa&rsquo;s life. Her date of execution could be set any time. If executed, she will be the first woman killed by Tennessee in almost 200 years. Should a woman who committed a violent crime as a damaged teenager be granted a chance at rehabilitation? And is justice best served through retribution or mercy?

True Crime

On a January night in 1995, 18-year-old Christa Pike and two other teenagers lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer to a secluded area near the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. They taunted, beat, and slashed Colleen, carving a pentagram into her chest, before Christa picked up a piece of concrete and smashed Colleen’s skull, killing her. Those salacious details stood out during a national Satanic Panic over ritual abuse and suburban cults. The Knoxville News Sentinel later accused Christa of killing “for love and Satan.” She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by electrocution—one of the youngest women ever to be sentenced to death in the United States.   Thirty years later, Christa is still alive, incarcerated at a Nashville prison and the only woman on death row in Tennessee. She has spent much of her adult life in solitary confinement. In the decades since the murder, evolving understanding about brain science and trauma have cast Christa’s wildly violent act—and death sentence—in a new light. We now know that the brain of an 18-year-old remains underdeveloped and impulsive. Christa has a horrific history of abuse, violence, and family neglect; the first time she attempted suicide, she was 9 years old. That kind of trauma can arrest healthy development, leading some young adults down a disastrous path.    As Christa approaches her final appeals, a team of state and federal defenders are urgently trying to save Christa’s life. Her date of execution could be set any time. If executed, she will be the first woman killed by Tennessee in almost 200 years. Should a woman who committed a violent crime as a damaged teenager be granted a chance at rehabilitation? And is justice best served through retribution or mercy?

On a January night in 1995, 18-year-old Christa Pike and two other teenagers lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer to a secluded area near the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. They taunted, beat, and slashed Colleen, carving a pentagram into her chest, before Christa picked up a piece of concrete and smashed Colleen’s skull, killing her. Those salacious details stood out during a national Satanic Panic over ritual abuse and suburban cults. The Knoxville News Sentinel later accused Christa of killing “for love and Satan.” She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by electrocution—one of the youngest women ever to be sentenced to death in the United States.
&nbsp;
Thirty years later, Christa is still alive, incarcerated at a Nashville prison and the only woman on death row in Tennessee. She has spent much of her adult life in solitary confinement. In the decades since the murder, evolving understanding about brain science and trauma have cast Christa’s wildly violent act—and death sentence—in a new light. We now know that the brain of an 18-year-old remains underdeveloped and impulsive. Christa has a horrific history of abuse, violence, and family neglect; the first time she attempted suicide, she was 9 years old. That kind of trauma can arrest healthy development, leading some young adults down a disastrous path.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
As Christa approaches her final appeals, a team of state and federal defenders are urgently trying to save Christa’s life. Her date of execution could be set any time. If executed, she will be the first woman killed by Tennessee in almost 200 years. Should a woman who committed a violent crime as a damaged teenager be granted a chance at rehabilitation? And is justice best served through retribution or mercy?

Share Episode 5 - Christa Fights to Stay Alive

Sign up to save your podcasts

Episode 5 - Christa Fights to Stay Alive

Episode 5 - Christa Fights to Stay Alive

More shows like Unrestorable

The Best of Coast to Coast AM

Atlanta Monster

Hell and Gone

Culpable

Monster: The Zodiac Killer

America's Crime Lab

The Idaho Massacre

The Binge Cases: Watching You

Paper Ghosts: The Texas Teen Murders

Astray

The Turning - Seasons 1, 2 & 3

After the Uprising

The Binge Crimes: Hunting The Bogeyman

Mind of a Monster: The Killer Nurse

The Dougherty Gang

The Real Killer

What Happened in Nashville

Sympathy Pains

Betrayal: Weekly

Bone Valley

True Crime Reality

Murder in Oregon

The Turning: The Sisters Who Left

The Piketon Massacre

True Crime Story: It Couldn't Happen Here

Creating a Con: The Story of Bitconned

Hookergate: Criminals and Libertines in the South

Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2

Murder on Songbird Road

Camp Shame

Hands Tied

Fifteen: Inside the Daniel Marsh Murders

Deadly Engagement

Incels

Monster: Hunting the Long Island Serial Killer