Christa Pike's teen murder minute by minute from heinous torture to sick trophy

Christa Pike's teen murder minute by minute from heinous torture to sick trophy WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT: Christa Pike's survival has shocked the world, with many debating whether she should be spared. But the mother of her tragic vicitm is appalled by the outcome For the grieving mother of Christa Pike's teenage victim, a botched execution attempt simply isn't good enough. Last week, the 50-year-old killer stepped into a silent death chamber expecting to utter her last words. Instead, she survived two lethal injections, snoring and then whimpering in pain as onlookers watched in disbelief. Now in an extraordinary turn of events, Pike has woken up and is speaking from her hospital bed in to which she remains handcuffed and shackled. Tennesse, the state that was intent on ending her life, has now been working to save it. The mother of Colleen Slemmer, the sweet and 'nerdy' teen Pike brutally murdered in 1995, has waited 30 long years for the killer to be executed. Her miraculous survival has proven retraumatising. "I think that the state owes me a big apology," she told WJXX. "And as a mother, I failed her [Colleen]." Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Colleen was just 19-years-old when she was lured to her death by Pike and two accomplices. The technically minded young woman had been taking a computer course at Job Corps in Knoxville, Tennessee, at her grandfather's suggestion. Tragically, on January 12, 1995, her bright future was snuffed out. That night, May spoke with her teenage daughter for the last time over the phone, hearing how other students had been picking on her. May was forced to end the call due to a bad signal, but by the time she called back at 10 pm, Colleen was gone. Pike had been studying at the Job Corps at the same time as Colleen. A troubled youngster, she had already spent time at Swannanoa's Juvenile Evaluation Centre after breaking into a community centre to steal sweets. After enrolling at Job Corps as a nursing student, Pike entered into an abusive, controlling relationship with Tadaryl Shipp, who would kick and hit her. Pike became fixated on the notion that Colleen was somehow trying to steal Shipp away from her, and concocted a heinous plan. Pike, along with her friend Shadolla Peterson, 18, and boyfriend Shipp, enticed Colleen to an abandoned steam mill on the University of Tennessee's agricultural campus, deep in the woods. She'd gained her trust by making out that she wanted to set things right between them, asking her to accompany her to the Blockbuster Music Store and offering some cannabis as a peace offering. Once out in the secluded spot, Pike made her true intentions known. While Peterson acted as a lookout, she and Shipp subjected their classmate to unthinkable torture using a meat cleaver and a box cutter. More than 100 injuries were inflicted in just 30 minutes. Colleen's throat was repeatedly slashed, and she was still alive when a pentagram was carved on her bare chest by Shipp. All the while, she pleaded for her life, as the attackers taunted her. Tennessee Attorney General's Office court documents state: "When Slemmer tried to flee, Pike sliced her stomach with the box cutter. ... As Slemmer begged for her life, Pike repeatedly kicked her in the face. Pike then cut Slemmer's throat as she begged for mercy." Pike would later tell of how they'd forced Colleen to remove her blouse and bra, to stop her running away, and that she'd tied a rag taken from her around Colleen's mouth to stop her from speaking. She said: "It was harder to hurt somebody when they're talking to you." Court records also show how Pike had asked a barely-conscious victim, "Colleen, do you know who's doing this to you?" By this point, she was too severely injured to respond. Colleen made one last desperate escape attempt, at which point Pike dealt the final fatal blow to the back of her victim's head with a large piece of asphalt, smashing her skull. The trio then walked away from the scene. By the time two UT physical plant employees discovered Colleen's partially clothed body the following morning, the damage was so extensive that they initially believed they were looking at an animal's corpse. Dr Sandra Elkins, the Knox County Medical Examiner who performed the autopsy on Colleen, later found so many injuries that the decision was made "to catalogue only the most serious and major wounds". "In addition, Dr. Elkins said the victim had purple contusions on her knees, indicating fresh bruising consistent with crawling, and defensive wounds on her right arm." After the murder, a short walk away from the crime scene, Pike was bragging to fellow course mates about what she had done, showing them a fragment of Colleen's skull that she had taken as a grim souvenir. She confirmed to fellow student Kim Iloilo that there was a bone in her pocket, adding, "And, yes, I'm eating breakfast with it." She remarked that she'd "just felt mean that day", expressing her belief that Colleen had been "trying to get [her] boyfriend" In a separate conversation with Stephanie Wilson. The killer said chillingly "That ain't mud on my shoes, that's blood", before showing her the piece of skull. Pike was arrested within two days of the murder, and admitted her guilt. In a tape-recorded statement to investigators, she sobbed as she recalled committing the murder, saying: "I literally thought I was going crazy cause I’d never seen myself act like that before in my life." The court found that "[t]he murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death." Pike was sentenced to death at the age of 20, making her one of the youngest women to enter Death Row. Shipp, who'd been a minor at the time of the murder, received a life sentence. Peterson received probation in exchange for giving testimony against Pike and Shipp. For Colleen's mother, there has been no closure. Speaking with People following this month's failed execution, she said: "If I could have gotten in that room, I would have taken the box cutter and cut her up like she did Colleen." But Pike's survival might not ultimately save her. Her death sentence remains in place and, unless she is left medically incapacitated, Tennessee could attempt to execute her again once its current suspension of executions is lifted. Her failed execution went ahead despite multiple attempts from her lawyers to challenge it. They argue that the state should consider Pike's age at the time of the killing, along with her mental illness and history of childhood sexual abuse. The Supreme Court has previously dismissed an appeal by Pike's lawyers, who had argued the jury did not get the chance to weigh this mitigating evidence before they sentenced her to death in 1996. Pike's lawyers said that for years, prosecutors argued in court that Pike had lied about being sexually abused as a child. But at a recent hearing about her execution method, the state said it did not dispute that she had suffered sexual abuse and rape. Despite this, Tenesse denied a recent clemency request. Pike said in her petition that she intended to beat her victim, not kill her, but that she was unable to "put the brakes on". "I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid," she said. "It took me numerous years to even realise the gravity of what I'd done. Even more to accept how many lives I affected. I took the life of someone's child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a crime." Pike has a documented history of childhood sexual abuse, abandonment and neglect. This included being raped from the time she was a toddler, it is claimed. Her lawyers believe that if she was found guilty of the same crime today as a teenager she would not receive a death sentence. A 1995 report by forensic psychologist Dr Diana McCoy, on behalf of Pike's defence team, found she'd been abused by several of her mother's husbands and boyfriends, and had also been raped several times, including when she was 11 and 17. McCoy said Pike's mother didn't believe her that these rapes happened. By the time she was 12 years old, Pike, who had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependency, had made her first of several suicide attempts. Only after she was given the death penalty was she diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Before her failed execution, Pike said as she was strapped to the gurney: "I just want to say that I'm going to leave this world the way I've spent most of my life, and that is with love." Do you have a story to share? Email me at [email protected]