Christa Pike said she feels “a kinship” with Lindsay Clancy just days before the death row inmate is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee.
Pike, 50, is expected to become the first woman to be executed in over 200 years in the state of Tennessee on Wednesday, September 30. The execution comes more than 30 years after she killed fellow Knoxville Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer in January 1995.
Ahead of her anticipated execution, Pike spoke to U.K. newspaper The Times from prison in Nashville, Tennessee, and reflected on Clancy’s highly publicized murder trial.
Clancy’s case ended in a mistrial on September 4 after a jury was unable to come to a unanimous verdict regarding if she should be held criminally responsible for killing her three kids in January 2023.
“I feel a kinship with Lindsay. We are both females who got into trouble because of uniquely female issues,” she said during the interview, which was conducted on Thursday, September 24. “One thing is different, however, is that times have changed a lot on awareness of women’s issues since I was put on trial.”
Pike added that she was “pleased [Clancy] received a mistrial and is getting the help she needs.”
“There are so many women who don’t get the help they need: me and others,” Pike added of Clancy, 36.
During Clancy’s trial, her defense attorneys argued that she should not be held criminally responsible for the murders due to her struggles with postpartum psychosis and bipolar disorder.
Clancy attended a hearing on Tuesday, September 29, regarding the future of the case. While her defense argued that the charges should be dropped, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has not yet revealed whether he plans to refile murder charges against her and if the case will go back to trial.
Meanwhile, Pike was found guilty of murder after she lured Slemmer, 19, to a remote area of the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus with her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and their friend Shadolla Peterson.
Pike was convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to death, while Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole because he was just 17 years old at the time of the crime. He remains in custody as of time of publication.
Peterson was sentenced to serve six years of probation after she pleaded guilty to being an accessory.
As her execution date gets closer, Pike’s attorneys have attempted to prevent her death by pointing out her history of childhood trauma, abuse and her undiagnosed mental health conditions.
United States Rep. Nancy Mace said Lindsay Clancy should be “publicly executed” after her trial for killing her three kids ended with a hung jury. Mace, 48, made the comments while discussing Clancy’s case and her attorney Kevin Reddington’s push to have the murder charges against her resolved without having to go to another trial. […]
However, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said on Monday, September 28, that he had no plans to stop Pike’s execution.
“After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene,” Lee, 66, said in a statement.
If you or someone you know is pregnant or just had a baby and is in crisis, help is available. Call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline for free, confidential support 24/7 in English and Spanish at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262).
