Finally, all appeals seeking to prevent Krista Pike’s execution have been rejected and she is now scheduled to be executed in just 22 days. The Tennessee Department of Correction has even opened applications for members of the public who wish to attend as witnesses to the execution. Stay with us because in this video, I’ll tell you about the horrific crime that sent her to death row, the numerous other offenses she committed while incarcerated, and the latest developments leading up to her execution.

 I think we last saw it on TV. They call it Sparky. Um I don’t really think about that because I don’t think I’m ever going to see it. Personally. I still have a lot of hope and I know that I don’t deserve to be where I’m at. And I know that somewhere along the line somebody’s going to see that. And everything’s going to change for me.

And I’m not being arrogant, I’m just being hopeful. That’s all I have left is hope.  This disturbing story began on March 10th, 1976, when Krista Gail Pike was born in Beckley, West Virginia into a deeply dysfunctional family. Her mother, Carissa Hansen, was an alcoholic who used drugs and spent much of her time partying and pursuing romantic relationships, largely neglecting her daughter.

 None of this in any way justifies the atrocities Krista would later commit. However, she essentially grew up on her own, moving from one relative’s home to another without having a stable parental figure to take care of her. During her teenage years, she began using marijuana and drinking heavily. While she was still very young, some of her relatives tried to find a way to help her reintegrate into society.

They eventually decided to enroll her in Job Corps, a federal program designed to provide vocational training and employment opportunities to young people from low-income and vulnerable backgrounds. Krista enrolled at the Job Corps Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she began studying computer programming.

Because the program was residential, students lived on the campus while attending their classes. At the age of 18, Krista officially moved into the center. When she first began the program, she was highly antisocial and struggled to connect with the other students. However, over time, a young man named Tynell Ship was the first person to approach her and start a conversation.

The two quickly became friends. Tynell Ship was a young man from Memphis, Tennessee, who had also dropped out of high school and came from a dysfunctional family. Like Krista, he was studying computer programming, but from an early age, he had developed an increasingly strong interest in occult practices and Satanism.

  He wore necklaces featuring inverted pentagrams, had a tattoo associated with these beliefs, carried a satanic Bible with him, and openly discussed the subject with other people. Eventually, Tynell Ship and Krista Pike began a romantic relationship and became a couple. Ship started introducing her to his beliefs and interests.

Krista became fascinated by them and asked him to teach her more about his beliefs and rituals. Little by little, she began adopting these practices herself. The two began performing them together. They had an improvised altar in Ship’s room, held sessions, and carried out rituals connected to their beliefs.

In the same computer programming course was 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a young woman known for her kindness, energy, and dreams for the future. Originally from Orange Park, Florida, she had arrived at the Job Corps Center 3 months before Krista Pike to receive training in computer programming. Because Colleen and attended the same classes, they had already become friends before Krista arrived at the Job Corps Center.

However, Krista saw their friendship as a threat. She hated Colleen and every time she saw the two of them talking, she became consumed by jealousy. Little by little, she convinced herself that Colleen was trying to take her boyfriend away from her. Both her friends and Colleen herself repeatedly explained to Krista Pody that there was nothing between them beyond friendship.

But Krista was unwilling to accept that explanation. On January 5th, 1995, Krista confided in another student named Shadalla Peterson, who also shared her interest in the occult. Krista claimed that she had experienced a supposed revelation telling her that she had to murder Colleen Slemmer as part of a sacrifice to honor Satanism.

However, everything suggests that this was not a genuine revelation, but rather something Krista fabricated to justify killing Colleen. Krista managed to convince Shadalla Peterson that the revelation was real. Shortly afterward, she also convinced Tynell that in order to prove their devotion to Satan, they had to carry out a human sacrifice.

Eventually, all three agreed to take part in the plan. On the night of January 12th, 1995, Krista Pike put the plan she had been preparing for days into motion. Because Krista did not speak directly with Colleen, she sent Shadalla Peterson to approach her. Shadalla told Colleen that Krista wanted to make peace and put their differences behind them.

 So, she arranged to meet her at a secluded area of the campus under the pretext of reconciling. Colleen was thrilled to hear that they were finally going to make peace, although she became hesitant when she learned where they were supposed to meet. Shadalla explained that they had chosen the location because they would be able to talk privately there and because Christa could smoke marijuana without being caught.

At around 8:00 p.m., Pike, Colleen, Shadalla Peterson, and Tatterall Ship met in Colleen’s dorm room. She accepted the invitation enthusiastically, convinced that they had finally put their differences behind them. The four of them then  left the Job Corps complex and walked along 17th Street toward the University of Tennessee campus.

  Tragically, Colleen Slemmer would never return. The group eventually reached a deserted area near an old steam plant on the university’s agricultural campus. That was where Pike had planned to confront Colleen. But instead of talking, she launched the attack. Without warning, Pike violently slammed Colleen’s head against her knee.

When the young woman tried to escape, Tatterall Ship chased after her, caught her, and dragged her back so Pike could continue the attack. For the next 30 to 60 minutes, Colleen Slemmer was subjected to a brutal assault. Pike and Ship used a box cutter to inflict at least six deep cuts across her neck, wounds that penetrated through layers of fat and muscle  tissue.

They also used the blade to inflict multiple cuts across her back.    To prevent her from screaming, they forced her to remove her blouse and bra and stuffed a piece of cloth into her mouth. Forensic evidence later revealed numerous defensive wounds on her arms and hands, showing that she fought desperately to save her life throughout the attack.

While they tortured her, Pike and Ship carved a pentagram approximately 8 cm in diameter into the victim’s chest.  Despite her severe injuries, Colleen was still alive and repeatedly begged them to stop beating and cutting her. After nearly an hour of torture, Pike picked up a large piece of asphalt that was lying nearby and slammed it into Colleen’s head.

The impact was so violent that the chunk broke into several  pieces, which were then also used to continue beating her as she lay dying.  Tynell was respected, if not feared. He protected me. He was probably the first man that I’d ever had in my life that  wanted to protect me, that saw me as, you know, a treasure, something good instead of something to use and toss to the side.

 I wanted to get her off campus, and I had every intention of fighting her. I knew exactly what I was doing. Everything that I did that night, I knew what I was doing. And I think I was taking things out on her that had happened to me.  After the murder, Pike committed one of the most disturbing acts in the entire case.

 She tore a fragment of Colleen’s skull from her head and took it with her as a trophy. At around 10:15 p.m., the three returned to the Job Corps Center. That same night, Krista confessed to her roommate that she had just murdered Colleen Slemmer. As proof of what had happened, she pulled the piece of skull she had kept from the pocket of her jacket and began describing the attack in graphic detail.

As she spoke, she smiled, danced in circles, and sang,  displaying what appeared to be a complete lack of remorse. The following morning, on January 13th, 1995, at around 8:05 a.m., two employees from the University of Tennessee’s grounds department discovered Colleen Slemmer’s body. The investigation began immediately and progressed rapidly.

Krista Pike’s roommate told authorities what Pike had confessed to her the previous night, providing investigators with crucial information. Later, DNA analysis confirmed that blood found on Tinesha Ship’s shirt and pants matched the victim’s genetic profile.    This became some of the strongest evidence linking the suspects to the murder.

 On January 14th, 1995, just 2 days after the killing, Krista Pike was arrested along with Tinesha Ship and Shadala Peterson. From the beginning, Pike confessed to the crime and admitted taking part in the attack. During her confession, she also claimed that she had been hearing voices telling her to act.  I took somebody’s life. Took somebody’s child away.

 It’s    you know, somebody’s friend, somebody’s sister. Hurt so many people with this, and even though it’s not me, and I can’t take full responsibility for this anymore, and I won’t, because if I’m going to die in here, I’m going to die for my truth, not for my lie. You know, accept me for who I am, good, bad, and ugly.

But I’m not going to die for a lie anymore. I’ll die for my truth.  The trial began in March 1996 in Knox County. After reviewing the evidence presented by the prosecution, the jury found Pike guilty on March 22nd of first-degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Eight days later, the court sentenced her to death by electrocution.

At just 20 years old when she received the sentence, Pike became one of the youngest women on death row in the United States.  It is therefore ordered that you shall be put to death by electrocution in the manner prescribed by law. That you shall be transferred to custody of the warden at the Tennessee Prison for Women.

And further, that on the 12th day of January, 1997, your body shall to to shock by sufficient current of electricity.  [laughter]  May God have mercy on her. Mr. Baker, please  Can I please have a bottle of water? My throat is dry.  Mr. Baker, please hold this bottle of water.  Please. I need to swallow.

 Please hold this water.  I love you. I love you.  Her boyfriend and accomplice, Toddrick Ship, was tried separately in January 1997. He was also found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. However, because he was 17 years old at the time of the crime, Tennessee law prevented him from receiving the death penalty.

Instead,  he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. In October 2025, he appeared before the parole board for the first time. His request was denied because of the extreme severity of the crime. His case will be reviewed again in October 2031. As for Shadalla Peterson, who acted as a lookout during the murder, she reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.

She pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and received a 6-year sentence.    Peterson has been free since 2003 and little is publicly known about her whereabouts or life since her release.  I knew from the beginning that I would be found guilty, and I knew from the beginning, well, from the beginning of my trial, that I would get the death penalty.

 I think I deserve to be in here for the rest of my life. I do. I know I do. I know I don’t deserve to be out walking around with everybody else in normal society. I did something horrible that is unacceptable and I realize that but I don’t deserve to die for the actions of three individuals when I’m only one person.

 Pike’s time on death row was marked by a pattern of disruptive and defiant behavior. On August 24th, 2001, a fire broke out in the maximum security unit of the Tennessee women’s prison forcing several inmates to be evacuated. Three of them, Christa Pike, Natasha Cornett, and Patricia Jones were temporarily placed in a recreation cage while officers brought the situation under control.

 According to testimony, a verbal confrontation broke out between Jones and Cornett. Pike then intervened. She used a bootlace to wrap around Patricia Jones’ neck and applied pressure until the woman lost consciousness apparently intending to kill her. Prison officers quickly intervened and managed to separate the women. Jones survived the incident.

 According to the investigation, Pike and Cornett had a close relationship while incarcerated. Some documents and reports from the time mention affectionate letters exchanged between the two leading to speculation that their relationship may have gone beyond simple friendship.  Patricia Jones had tortured me for about 4 years.

She used to call me fried chicken make noises to me and tell me that’s how I was going to fry in the electric chair.  Patricia was about 220 lb at the time. I weighed about 100 lb. And she jumped on my friend and was hurting her. And I jumped on Patricia and choked her with a shoestring. Get her off my friend to get her off me.

 As a result of the incident, Pike was convicted of attempted murder and received an additional 25-year prison sentence. In 2011, Christa Pike began corresponding through letters with Donald Kohut, a 34-year-old personal trainer from Flemington, New Jersey. Kohut became obsessed with her and over time, their relationship grew more intense.

He began visiting her regularly at the Tennessee Women’s Prison, making the long trip from New Jersey once or twice a month. During these visits, the two were able to get to know each other in person under supervision. According to authorities, Kohut eventually devised a plan to help Pike escape and recruited Justin Heflin, a 23-year-old corrections officer who worked at the prison.

 Heflin allegedly agreed to cooperate in exchange for $20,000. The plan primarily involved obtaining information about a prison key so that a duplicate could be made and used to help Pike escape. Authorities did not disclose all the details of the plan for security  reasons. In early 2012, the Tennessee Department of Correction received information about the alleged escape plot.

A joint investigation was launched with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and law enforcement authorities in New Jersey. In March 2012, both Kohut and Heflin were arrested and charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit an escape. Heflin also faced charges of official misconduct.

 The plan was stopped before it could be carried out and authorities determined that Pike’s escape was not imminent. Pike herself did not face additional charges in connection with the case. Donald Kohut was sentenced to 7 years in prison in Tennessee. Justin Heflin, after cooperating with authorities, did not serve any time behind bars.

 He was fired from his position and placed on probation. In 2016, Pike faced new charges related to contraband after a cell phone was confiscated from her that had been illegally brought into the prison. Investigators found conversations on the device in which she sent seductive photographs and communicated with several men while apparently attempting to win them over.

Authorities believed she may have been trying to use these men to help facilitate a potential prison escape. And so, nearly three decades passed during which Pike waged a long legal and media battle in an attempt to avoid execution. It was not until 2025 that she finally exhausted her remaining legal appeals.

On September 30th, 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court officially set her execution date for September 30th, 2026. Because Pike was sentenced in 1996, the electric chair was an execution method applicable to her under the provisions governing her sentence. However, Tennessee law allows certain death row inmates to choose between lethal injection and electrocution.

Ultimately, Pike’s legal team selected lethal injection. In January 2026, Pike filed a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol. Her attorneys argued that because of her medical conditions, including a blood clotting disorder and small veins, the procedure could cause her unconstitutional suffering.

For that reason, they asked the court to halt her execution. On May 21st, 2026, Tennessee attempted to execute another death row inmate, Tony Chapman. However, the procedure lasted for more than an hour because of difficulties locating a suitable vein. Following that incident, Pike’s legal team filed a motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking to prevent her execution.

However, the justices rejected those arguments and determined that lethal injection remained a viable method for carrying out her sentence. On September 1st, the application process opened for members of the media interested in witnessing the execution. Recognized Tennessee media outlets can submit applications for one of the available witness seats.

The application period will remain open until Tuesday, September 8th, when the selected media organizations will be announced. Finally, after more than 30 years on death row, Christa Pike is scheduled to be executed at 10:00 a.m. on September 30th, 2026.  There are now only 24 days remaining before, after decades of waiting by the victim’s family, the death sentence is carried out.

Since 2015, no state in the United States has executed a woman, and Tennessee has gone more than two centuries without executing a woman.  I did something horrible that is unacceptable, and I realize that, but I don’t deserve to die for the actions of three individuals.