As execution nears in Tennessee, Christa Pike case highlights rare women on death row
Data visualization journalist
It is incredibly rare for a woman to be sentenced to death in the United States, but in Tennessee, a woman is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the first time in the state in 200 years.
Only 18 women have been executed during the country’s modern era of the death penalty, which began in 1977.
The most recent execution took place in Missouri in 2023, when Amber McLaughlin, a transgender woman, was executed by lethal injection for the 2003 murder of her ex-girlfriend.
Why are there so few executions?
Women represent only 1% of all executions in the modern era of the death penalty. Men accounted for the other 1,664 executions.
The main reason, experts say, is that women commit fewer violent crimes.
Experts also say juries may be more hesitant to hand down the death penalty against a woman.
“Often when we think about the death penalty, we look at who most deserves the worst punishment we can impose on an individual,” said Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. “And women don’t really fit that image that a lot of us have.”
Experts say women face unique challenges in legal system
Researchers found that the majority of women on death row – 96 percent – were either raped, sexually abused as children, or subjected to domestic violence before their arrest.
“We found that prosecutors downplayed these experiences or dismissed them outright,” said Sandra Babcock, founding director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.
Women sentenced to execution are also frequently isolated in the prison system, experts say. Although death row inmates are usually held in a separate section of the prison, due to the low number of women, they tend to be held alone.
Which states have women on death row?
There are currently 45 women on death row in the United States.
California has the highest number of women on death row, 17, but since 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered that no executions take place.
Since 1900, 56 women have been executed. New York and Texas carried out the highest number of executions.
The Christa Pike affair
Christa Pike, 18 at the time, and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, murdered Colleen Slemmer, 19, in 1995. A third teen, Shadolla Peterson, 18, was convicted as an accomplice.
Shipp, then 17, was sentenced to life in prison and is now eligible for parole. Peterson received probation.
Pike is scheduled to be executed September 30 in Tennessee. If executed, she would be the only person executed in Tennessee in the modern era of the death penalty for a crime committed when she was 18 years old.
Attorneys filed for a pardon for Pike because of his age at the time of the crime and because, during his initial trial, they say his attorney neglected to inform the jury that Pike had been the victim of child sexual abuse and multiple rapes.
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