Steven pike trial knoxville tn

Tommie Chadwick Jr. Corey Browning, 31 Elm St. Wanda Hardin Maria , 63 S. Elmwood St. Darren Gurley, 35 Dwight Ln. Amanda Baldwin, 34 Dwight Ln. Ray Abney, 37 Moody Ave. Serena Lynch, 35 Cody Dr. Suzanne Gibson, 58 Happy Hollow Ln. Andrew Gibson, 34 Happy Hollow Ln. Gary Stilner, 27 E. Kenneth White, 30 Eight Point Ln. James Campbell, 29 Lake Smoky Rd.

Francine Barnes, 54 Allensville Acres Rd. Heather Williams, 33 Old Engletown Rd. Steven Cole, 39 Casey Dr. Shipp, Pike and a third teen named Shadolla Peterson lured Slemmer to a secluded, wooded area.

There, according to court documents, they tortured Slemmer, slashing her with a box cutter, cutting her with a meat cleaver and eventually beating her over the head with chunks of asphalt after she tried to run away.

The murder was — and has continued to be over the years — the object of the particular sort of grim fascination reserved for killings carried out by women. Pike, who is 45 now, was 19 when she was convicted — making her one of the youngest women ever sentenced to death. In , she was convicted of attempted first-degree murder for trying to strangle another incarcerated woman, Patricia Jones, and nearly succeeding.

Then, from the time she was a small child, she endured abuse, neglect, multiple violent rapes, and suffered from severe mental illness. She was raped at least twice, the filing says, including once in her preteen years.

Years later, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Had she been just slightly younger, Pike would have been ineligible for the death penalty, just like her boyfriend. Shipp was 17 years old at the time of Ms. That is the difference between a death sentence and parole eligibility in That difference cannot be equated with increased maturity or brain development. Christa would be the first woman Tennessee executes in over years, the first teenaged offender Tennessee executes in the modern era, and the only teenaged female offender to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was found to be unconstitutional in Edit Close.

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