Baby photo could save murderer from being first woman killed on death row in 200 years
Warning: This article contains child abuse and crimes which some readers may find distressing.
A baby photo could stop a convicted murderer from becoming the first woman put to death in Tennessee since 1819.
Christa Pike, 50, faces execution in just two weeks for the brutal murder of her Job Corps Centre classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995.
At the age of 18, a judge said she carried out a ‘horrific’ and ‘brutal’ murder of Slemmer in Knoxville.
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Pike and two friends lured the 19-year-old into the woods, where they beat, tortured, and killed her. Pike was sentenced to death at 20 years old in 1996
Her lawyers, however, say her traumatic childhood and mental health issues are reasons why she should avoid the death penalty.
Alongside a series of baby pictures, her legal team have written in a 226-page clemency petition that it was at that point, Pike was ‘sexually abused’ by her grandmother’s boyfriend.
“There is a picture of Christa as a child that I often think about,” her lawyers penned.
“She is outside, her curly red hair is slightly blown by the wind. She has big brown eyes, and her mouth is drawn tight in a straight line.
“I think about this picture for two reasons. First, it is a beautiful picture not unlike the pictures I have of my own daughter at the same age. I am sure you have similar pictures of your daughters.
“Second, I think of this picture because I know that it was taken about the time Christa was first sexually abused. Her grandmother’s boyfriend had already begun orally raping her.
“To me, this picture represents a devastatingly sad turning point, where the chaos that surrounded Christa began to leave marks on her that were too much to overcome.”
Tennessee Supreme Court docs obtained by news.com.au state that Pike ‘told her friend Kim Iloilo, who was also a student at the facility, that she intended to kill another student, Colleen Slemmer, because she had just felt mean that day’.
“Pike went to Iloilo’s room and told Iloilo that she had just killed Slemmer and that she had brought back a piece of the victim’s skull as a souvenir,” the documents state.
“Pike said that a pentagram had been carved onto the victim’s forehead and chest. Iloilo said that Pike was dancing in a circle, smiling, and singing ‘la, la, la’ while she related these details about the murder.
“When Iloilo saw Pike at breakfast the next morning she asked Pike what she had done with the piece of the victim’s skull. Pike replied that it was in her pocket and then said, ‘And, yes, I’m eating breakfast with it’.”
A University of Tennessee employee found Slemmer’s body on 13 January, testifying that they had ‘first mistaken it for the corpse of an animal’.
The United Nations Human Rights office, meanwhile, are calling for the 'immediate halt' to the execution.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
Anish Vij