Tennessee’s Rare Female Executions

Christa Pike is set to become the fourth woman ever executed by Tennessee — a rare milestone in U.S. history — as she faces death row since 1995 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom she allegedly killed after believing she was pursuing her boyfriend. Pike, now 50, kept a piece of Slemmer’s skull as a memento. Tennessee’s last woman executed was over a century ago, with only 18 women executed nationwide since 1976. Meanwhile, Gaile Owens narrowly avoided death in 2010 after being convicted of arranging her husband’s murder — her sentence was commuted to life just 77 days before execution, following advocacy and recognition of her abuse, and she later received parole before passing away in 2019. Support the show:Get a discount at https://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/e836d7457d232084