Her sentence, death in the electric chair for fatally stabbing a 78 year-old woman in a burglary, attracted international attention. The youngest person ever put on death row was Paula Cooper of Gary, Ind. I might never leave. She joined the Job Corps, a government program aimed at helping low-income youth by offering vocational training and career skills, and attended the now-closed Job Corps center in Knoxville, Tennessee. [19] Click here to read the ICLU's friend-of-the-court brief in this case. [1] She was 20 when convicted of the torture murder of a classmate she committed at age 18. [15], In March 2012, Kohut was arrested and charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit escape, while Heflin was arrested and charged with bribery, official misconduct and conspiracy to commit escape. On March 30, Pike was sentenced to death by electrocution for the murder charge and 25 years in prison for the conspiracy charge. [8] Her lawyers sought a commutation of the sentence from death to prison on the following grounds: ineffective assistance of counsel; Pike suffered from mental illness; and capital punishment as administered in Tennessee is unconstitutional. [5] With this denial Pike's allowed appeals under the rules and procedures of the State of Tennessee's criminal justice system were exhausted. https://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/life-youngest-women-death-row-29195923 {"duration":"0:53","description":"Emilia Carr, 30, is the youngest woman in the United States on death row, while Tiffany Cole, 33, is third youngest. United States: Sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of a woman in Mississippi. In 1988, the United States Supreme Court decision, Thompson v. Oklahoma, barred the death penalty for defendants under age 16 at the time of the crime. Christa Gail Pike (born March 10, 1976) is an American convicted murderer, and the youngest woman to be sentenced to death in the United States during the post-Furman period. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? It's like her own life. Christa Pike – the youngest woman sentenced to death. On March 22, 1996, after only a few hours of deliberation, Pike was found guilty on both counts. [6] In December 2008, Pike's latest request for a new trial was turned down and she was returned to death row. [13], In March 2012, it was revealed that Pike had made escape plans involving corrections officer Justin Heflin and a New Jersey man named Donald Kohut. She was convicted of attempted first degree murder on August 12, 2004. [4], Following the guilty verdict, Pike "launched, cancelled and then re-launched" an appeal of her conviction in the Tennessee state courts. [14] According to the TBI, the plan was not very far along when uncovered and "the jailbreak was not imminent". Our increased understanding of how the adolescent brain grows and changes reinforces the decision not to treat juveniles as adults in the criminal justice system. Her sentence, death in the electric chair for fatally stabbing a 78 year-old woman in a burglary, attracted international attention. [15][17] This led to the attempted prison break being thwarted by a joint investigation involving the Tennessee Department of Corrections, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and the New Jersey State Police. Current Female Death Row Prisoners. This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate. Heflin, who cooperated with authorities after his arrest, served no prison time but was terminated from his job with the Tennessee Department of Corrections.[15]. Voices United v. Carmel Clay Schools, et al. Christa Gail Pike (born March 10, 1976) is an American convicted murderer, and the youngest woman to be sentenced to death in the United States during the post-Furman period. [2], Pike became jealous of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, who she thought was trying to "steal" her boyfriend from her; friends of Slemmer denied the accusations. ","mediaType":"default","section":"ABCNews/2020","id":"29195923","title":"What Life Is Like For 2 of the Youngest Women on Death Row","url":"/2020/video/life-youngest-women-death-row-29195923"}. The murder of Colleen Slemmer was featured on the TV shows Deadly Women, For My Man, Killer Kids, Martinis and Murder, and Snapped: Killer Couples. We're all minorities where are people who again minorities or didn't have any any money. Shipp received a life sentence plus 25 years with the possibility of parole in 2031. AMERICA’S youngest female killers on death row have issued a new plea for their lives, saying they are victims of an unjust system. v. Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation. [11], On August 24, 2001, Pike (with alleged assistance from inmate Natasha Cornett) attacked and attempted to strangle fellow inmate Patricia Jones with a shoe string, and nearly succeeded in choking her to death. As of April 1, 2020, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund reports that there were 53 women on death rows across the United States. Why can Manhattan bank amendment do. v. Northeast Dubois School Corporation, J.A.W. You know your opinions. [7], In May 2014 Pike's Lawyers entered an appeal in the federal court system. [3][4] Finally, Pike smashed Slemmer's skull with a large chunk of asphalt, killing her. Christa Pike, the youngest women sentenced to death row, List of women on death row in the United States, List of death row inmates in the United States, "Chattanooga Federal Judge Upholds Conviction of Christa Pike, Who Carried out Torture Murder Of Romantic Rival", Federal court denies Pike's request to overturn death penalty, Love and Hate on Death Row, The Tennessean July 6 2003, James Queally, "Raritan TWP Man Arrested", Associated Press, "Pair Planed to Copy Jail Key", Christina Ng, "Tennessee Death Row Woman's Escape Plot Foiled", Philip Caulfield, "2 Busted in Plot To Spring Female Killer From Death Row", Hunterdon County Democrat, "Tennessee prisoner faces 45 more counts in N.J.", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christa_Pike&oldid=979524738, American people convicted of attempted murder, Prisoners sentenced to death by Tennessee, Violence against women in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox criminal with motive parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 21 September 2020, at 07:31. Even Pope John Paul II condemned the sentence and urged clemency. At the time she was sentenced, Indiana law permitted executions for those as young as 10. [15], On May 31, 2012 Kohut was sentenced to seven years in prison the time to be served at the Tennessee State Northeast Correctional Complex. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking news? However, on August 2, 2002, a three judge state appeals court panel ruled that the proceedings should be continued and the execution was not carried out. By a unanimous decision in July 1989, Cooper, then 19 and studying for a college degree, won a reversal from the Indiana Supreme Court, which ordered her penalty to be reduced to 60 years in prison. May rich people are in prison. Here and here you know the unit you know the youngest in the country and do you call it death and we but. Though the US Supreme Court has argued that imposing the death penalty on those younger than 18 constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, the United States has a rich and colorful history regarding the execution of juveniles. Unfortunately equality is an illusion. Eventually Kohut communicated a plan for her escape to Pike and enlisted the help of corrections officer Heflin, who agreed to participate in return for cash and gifts. The youngest person ever put on death row was Paula Cooper of Gary, Ind. Together, they developed interest in the occult and devil worship. Few Women on Death Row . Coming up in the next {{countdown}} {{countdownlbl}}. Scott Carpenter is currently the youngest to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was reintroduced in 1976. According to later court testimony, for the next thirty minutes Slemmer was taunted, beaten, and slashed, and a pentagram was carved in her chest. In 1987, the Indiana legislature passed a bill raising the minimum age for a defendant in a death penalty case from 10 to 16 years old. [2] Peterson, who had turned informant, received probation for pleading guilty to being an accessory after the fact. In a 61 page ruling by U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice Jr. issued on March 11 2016 all grounds were rejected and the requested commutation was denied. [15], Because of security concerns, the Tennessee Department of Corrections has not provided many details about the plan, however the eventually unsealed indictment laid out a scenario where a prison key would be traced and then a duplicate created. A book was written about the murder, called "A Love To Die For," by Patricia Springer. The log book showed that the four of them left together and only three returned. At the time she was sentenced, Indiana law permitted executions for those as young as 10. Pike soon thereafter changed her mind and on July 8, 2002, defense lawyers filed a motion to allow the appeal process to continue. On death row since: September 7 2006. Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz granted the request and an execution date of August 19, 2002, was set. Both Amnesty International and the Indiana Civil Liberties Union (ICLU) said in court filings that international standards of justice prohibited execution for juvenile crimes. ", Paula Cooper, youngest person ever put on death row, Demands to Divest from IMPD Must Not Go Unheard. You ever thing. [2], On January 12, 1995, Pike, Shipp, Peterson, and Slemmer signed out of the dormitory and proceeded to the woods, where Slemmer was told they wanted to make peace by offering her some marijuana. However, since the bill was not retroactive, Cooper's status was not affected. She was 15 when the crime was committed. [2], Pike began to show off the piece of skull around the school, and within thirty-six hours the three were arrested. Christa Pike was just 18 when she committed murder, 20 when she was sentenced to death. [12] Although it is the position of the Tennessee Department of Corrections that Cornett assisted in this crime, their investigators concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge her with helping Pike attack Jones. Kelley. Cooper's attorneys argued that, by every definition, she was a child when the crime occurred. Douglas Stankewitz October 12, 1978 May 3, 2019 40 years, 203 days United States: Oldest death row inmate at California's San Quentin State Prison, a member of the Mono nation sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of a 22-year-old woman.