Overview

• The Tennessee Supreme Court scheduled Pike’s execution for September 30, 2026, with the order noting it could be halted by further court action.
• If carried out, she would be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than two centuries and the 19th woman executed in the U.S. since 1976.
• The court denied Pike’s bid to block the date and her request for commutation, despite defense arguments citing her age at the crime, severe mental illness, and a history of abuse.
• Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture killing of fellow Knoxville Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer; court records say a pentagram was carved into the victim’s chest and a skull fragment was kept as a souvenir.
• The justices also set execution dates for Tony Carruthers, Gary Sutton, and Anthony Hines, as scrutiny continues over Tennessee’s lethal‑injection practices following an independent review and concerns raised after the Byron Black execution.