For the first time in over 200 years, Tennessee is preparing to execute a woman, drawing nationwide attention and reigniting
debate about capital punishment. The case involves Christa Gail Pike, now 49, who has spent nearly three decades on death row.
Convicted in 1996 for a crime committed at just 18, Pike became the youngest woman in the U.S. sentenced to death at the time. Since then,
she has remained Tennessee’s only female death row inmate and a central figure in ongoing debates about justice, youth, and sentencing.
Her execution is scheduled for September 30, 2026, at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. If carried out,
she would be the 19th woman executed in the U.S. since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Supporters argue that her punishment
she would be the 19th woman executed in the U.S. since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Supporters argue that her punishment