Christa Pike’s decision drew attention back to a murder that devastated a family.

Ahead of her scheduled Tennessee execution, she declined a special last meal, while supporters pleaded for mercy and Colleen Slemmer’s mother supported the sentence.

But that choice did not mean she refused all food, and available reporting did not establish the outcome of her scheduled exec…

Tennessee scheduled Christa Gail Pike’s execution for September 30, 2026, at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

Local reporting, citing correction officials, said she had not requested a specially selected meal; her reasons were not established. Pike was convicted in 1996 of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer the previous year, when Pike was 18.

Behind the attention to prison preparations was a young woman’s stolen future and a family carrying decades of grief.

Pike’s advocates sought clemency based on her youth, reported mental illness, and severe childhood abuse, arguing for reduced punishment rather than denying responsibility.

Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, publicly supported the execution and described her enduring pain. According to the cited Associated Press reporting, Governor Bill Lee denied clemency, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request to intervene.

Those decisions concern the legal proceedings; the supplied account does not confirm whether the execution occurred.