First woman in over 200 years to be executed by US state

The US state of Tennessee is set to execute the first female death row inmate for the first time in 200 years.

Three decades after she was convicted of the horrific murder of her classmate, Christa Gail Pike's fate has now been sealed.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has now set a date for the killer to receive the ultimate punishment. If it goes ahead, Pike will become the first woman to be executed in the state in two centuries, and the 19th woman put to death in US history.

She was found guilty of the January 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, 19, who she allegedly believed was trying to steal her boyfriend, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp.

The former couple and their friend Shadolla Peterson lured their victim to her death by asking her to meet them in some woodland in the city of Knoxville. Their pal then acted as a lookout while Slemmer was savagely beaten, stabbed, and bludgeoned - and chillingly, a pentagram was carved into her chest.

Pike, who was just 18 at the time of the slaying, reportedly kept a piece of her victim's skull and showed it off to fellow pupils at school.

Colleen Slemmer was brutally killed in January 1995 (Find a Grave)

The trio were arrested within 36 hours, and Pike ultimately confessed to torturing and killing Slemmer - but said they had simply been trying to scare her. The victim's body was found by a groundskeeper, who later testified that her body 'was so badly beaten that he had first mistaken it for the corpse of an animal', court records seen by CBS News state.

Shipp received a life sentence for Slemmer's murder as he was not eligible for the death penalty due to his age, while Peterson received probation after testifying against Pike.

Pike was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1996, making her the youngest person on death row at the age of 20.

She has been the only woman on death row in the state of Tennessee for the majority of her 30-year incarceration. There are only 48 female death row inmates in the entire country.

In 2003, another 25 years was added onto Pike's sentence after she was found guilty of the attempted murder of a fellow inmate whom she had tried to strangle with a shoestring two years prior.

Earlier this week, the Tennessee Supreme Court set execution dates for four people, including Pike. Her execution has now been scheduled to take place in September next year.

Christa Gail Pike is set to be put to death in September next year (Tennessee Department of Correction)

It is reported that it will take place at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, according to WBIR Channel 10.

Pike's lawyers have argued that her death penalty should be thrown out, saying that she should instead serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Her attorneys believe that she would not have been slapped with the most severe punishment by a jury if she were tried for the crime today, due to her young age and mental health issues.

"Christa’s childhood was fraught with years of physical and sexual abuse and neglect," her legal team told USA TODAY.

With time and treatment for bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders, which were not diagnosed until years later, Christa has become a thoughtful woman with deep remorse for her crime."

Pike previously expressed her remorse for the murder in a handwritten letter sent to a local news outlet, The Tennessean.

She claimed she has 'changed drastically since she was a teenager' and wrote: "Think back to the worst mistake you made as a reckless teenager. Well, mine happened to be huge, unforgettable and ruined countless lives. I was a mentally ill 18 yr old kid. It took me numerous years to even realise the gravity of what I'd done.

"Even more to accept how many lives I effected. I took the life of someone's child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think that someone as loving and compassionate as myself had the ability to commit such a crime."

Shipp will be up for parole in November.